Pre-mRNA splicing in plants, while generally similar to the processes in vertebrates and yeast, is thought to involve plant specific cis-acting elements. Both monocot and dicot introns are typically strongly enriched in U nucleotides, and AU- or U-rich segments are thought to be involved in intron recognition, splice site selection, and splicing efficiency. We have applied logitlinear models to...

Drosophila bicoid mRNA is synthesized in the nurse cells and transported to the oocyte where microtubules and Exuperantia protein mediate localization to the anterior pole. Fluorescent bicoid mRNA injected into the oocyte displays nonpolar microtubule-dependent transport to the closest cortical surface, and the oocyte microtubule cytoskeleton lacks clear axial asymmetry. Nonetheless, bicoid mRN...

Eukaryotic protein-coding genes are transcribed as pre-mRNAs that are matured by capping, splicing and cleavage and polyadenylation. Although human pre-mRNAs can be long and complex, containing multiple introns and many alternative processing sites, they are usually processed co-transcriptionally. Mistakes during nuclear mRNA maturation could lead to potentially harmful transcripts that are imp...

Different RNA species are rigorously discriminated and exported by distinct export factors, but this discrimination mechanism remains largely unknown. We previously showed, by RNA microinjection experiments, that intronless mRNAs are discriminated from U snRNAs based on their difference in RNA length. However, it was unclear how they are discriminated in the natural situation in which their nas...

The yeast Sac3:Cdc31:Sus1:Thp1 (TREX-2) complex facilitates the repositioning and association of actively transcribing genes with nuclear pores (NPCs)-"gene gating"-that is central to integrating transcription, processing, and mRNA nuclear export. We present here the crystal structure of Sus1 and Cdc31 bound to a central region of Sac3 (the CID domain) that is crucial for its function. Sac3(CID...

Several factors contribute to nuclear mRNA export in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, including Mex67p, Mtr2p, Gle1p, Nup159p, Dbp5p, and Rip1p. Strains carrying mutations in these factors show rapid and dramatic nuclear accumulation of poly(A)(+) RNA. We have characterized two heat shock mRNAs, SSA4 and HSP104, in these mutant backgrounds; each transcript concentrates in a single intranuclear focus. ...

The 5' to 3' exoribonuclease Xrn1 is a large protein involved in cytoplasmatic mRNA degradation as a critical component of the major decaysome. Its deletion in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is not lethal, but it has multiple physiological effects. In a previous study, our group showed that deletion of all tested components of the yeast major decaysome, including XRN1, results in a decrease...

Background: Heparanase and endothelin-1/endothelin A receptor (ET-1/ETAR) expressions increase in cancer. This condition enhances tumor progression and correlates with poor survival. Limited data are documented regarding the role of heparanase and ET-1/ETAR in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). We sought to characterize the correlation between heparanase and ET-1/ETAR in EOC.Methods: Thirty patie...

MOTIVATION Cellular mRNA levels originate from the combined action of multiple regulatory processes, which can be recapitulated by the rates of pre-mRNA synthesis, pre-mRNA processing and mRNA degradation. Recent experimental and computational advances set the basis to study these intertwined levels of regulation. Nevertheless, software for the comprehensive quantification of RNA dynamics is st...