BIOCHEMISTRY

Kinetic Selection of Splicing Substrates by Yeast U1 snRNP

Pre-mRNA splicing is an essential process in eukaryotic cells, such as those of yeast and humans. The spliceosome cuts out introns and then joins together — or “splices” — specific pieces of RNA to encode proteins the cell needs. What perplexes scientists is how the spliceosome recognizes the specific sequences that mark where to make the cuts in an array of very different sequences of RNA. The mechanism is both precise and flexible. For her graduate research, Sarah Hansen from the Hoskins Lab looked specifically at the pre-spliceosome and how it finds the RNA sites needed for the first step in splicing chemistry:  the 5' splice site and the branch site. Because many diseases arise in the sequences the spliceosome uses, understanding how it works is essential to finding a way to combat them.

To hear about her results, attend her Thesis Review at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 13 in Room 1211 of the HFB Biochemical Sciences Building.