Dr. Byung Ran “Ranny” So
The University of Texas at Arlington
Friday, February 28, 2025
12:00 Noon
Room 120 – Meyerhoff Chemistry Building
Host: Dr. Songon An
“U1 snRNP-specific proteins regulate the Survival of Motor Neuron complex to maintain snRNP abundance and repertoire”
Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes play a crucial role in post-transcriptional gene expression regulation. Spliceosome is a macromolecular RNP complex that facilitates splicing, producing full-length messenger RNAs. Comprising five small nuclear RNPs (U1, U2, U4, U5, and U6 snRNPs) and over fifty splicing factors, this machinery organizes the assembly and catalysis required for the conversion of premature mRNA into mature forms. Although the spliceosome assembly depends on an equal stoichiometry of small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) for splicing, their abundance varies significantly across tissues and developmental stages. The stability and abundance of spliceosomal snRNPs are determined by the assembly of an Sm protein ring (Sm core) on each snRNA, a process facilitated by the Survival of Motor neurons (SMN) complex. Whereas the SMN complex’s role as a chaperone is well-established, the mechanisms governing its activity remain unclear. I will present our recent findings on how U1 snRNP-specific proteins, previously known as components of U1 snRNP, differentially modulate the SMN complex. This regulation affects the biogenesis of U1 and other snRNPs, highlighting the role of snRNA mutations in various cancers.