RNA. 2014 Apr;20(4):474-82. doi: 10.1261/rna.041376.113. Epub 2014 Feb 18.
The premessenger RNA of the majority of human genes can generate various transcripts through alternative splicing, and different tissues or disease states show specific patterns of splicing variants. These patterns depend on the relative concentrations of the splicing factors present in the cell nucleus, either as a consequence of their expression levels or of post-translational modifications, such as protein phosphorylation, which are determined by signal transduction pathways. Here, we analyzed the contribution of protein kinases to the regulation of alternative splicing variant Rac1b that is overexpressed in certain tumor types. In colorectal cells, we found that depletion of AKT2, AKT3, GSK3β, and SRPK1 significantly decreased endogenous Rac1b levels. Although knockdown of AKT2 and AKT3 affected only Rac1b protein levels suggesting a post-splicing effect, the depletion of GSK3β or SRPK1 decreased Rac1b alternative splicing, an effect mediated through changes in splicing factor SRSF1. In particular, the knockdown of SRPK1 or inhibition of its catalytic activity reduced phosphorylation and subsequent translocation of SRSF1 to the nucleus, limiting its availability to promote the inclusion of alternative exon 3b into the Rac1 pre-mRNA. Altogether, the data identify SRSF1 as a prime regulator of Rac1b expression in colorectal cells and provide further mechanistic insight into how the regulation of alternative splicing events by protein kinases can contribute to sustain tumor cell survival.
大多数人类基因的前信使 RNA 可通过可变剪接生成各种转录本,不同的组织或疾病状态表现出特定的剪接变体模式。这些模式取决于细胞核中剪接因子的相对浓度,这是由于它们的表达水平或翻译后修饰(如蛋白质磷酸化)所致,而这些修饰又取决于信号转导途径。在这里,我们分析了蛋白激酶对在某些肿瘤类型中过表达的可变剪接变体 Rac1b 的调节作用。在结直肠细胞中,我们发现 AKT2、AKT3、GSK3β 和 SRPK1 的缺失显著降低了内源性 Rac1b 水平。虽然 AKT2 和 AKT3 的敲低仅影响 Rac1b 蛋白水平,表明存在剪接后效应,但 GSK3β 或 SRPK1 的缺失减少了 Rac1b 的可变剪接,这是通过剪接因子 SRSF1 的变化介导的。特别是,SRPK1 的敲低或其催化活性的抑制降低了 SRSF1 的磷酸化和随后向核内的易位,限制了其促进 Rac1 前 mRNA 中可变外显子 3b 包含的能力。总之,数据确定 SRSF1 是结直肠细胞中 Rac1b 表达的主要调节因子,并提供了更多的机制见解,说明蛋白激酶如何通过调节可变剪接事件来促进肿瘤细胞的存活。