Leo Kurian (Goethe University Frankfurt)

RNA regulatory principles of engineering fate in living systems

Host: Ivan Bedzhov

During organogenesis, the establishment of tissue architecture requires precise RNA processing. Pre-mRNA splicing is a fundamental step in gene expression, which allows programmed and precise reconstitution of the segmented organization of coding information in DNA. However, Many developmentally essential exons, especially in heart and brain, bear weak 5′ splice sites (5′SS) yet are spliced with high precision. This implies the presence of currently unknown splicing fidelity mechanisms. I will present our findings on how a splicing factor stabilizes spliceosome complexes at weak 5' splice sites on mRNAs crucial to cardiac function, thereby ensuring splicing fidelity. Together, our data reveal that splicing fidelity is not only an intrinsic property of the spliceosome but an actively enforced molecular outcome during organogenesis.

Detailed information