Research Insights into splicing quality control
How cells avoid errors in the production of Messenger RNA
The spliceosome is a complex molecular machine, which ensures that the genetic information of the DNA - after transcription into a pre-mRNA - is correctly spliced (cut and reassembled) to the mature mRNA required for the production of proteins. The team of Prof. Sinning from the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH) succeeded for the first time in depicting a faultily 'blocked' spliceosome at high resolution and reconstructing how it is recognized and eliminated in the cell by a molecular short circuit. These mechanistic studies were carried out in collaboration with colleagues at the Australian National University.
