Binding of DAZAP1 and hnRNPA1/A2 to an exonic splicing silencer in a natural BRCA1 exon 18 mutant

Mol Cell Biol. 2008 Jun;28(11):3850-60. doi: 10.1128/MCB.02253-07. Epub 2008 Apr 7.

Abstract

A disease-causing G-to-T transversion at position +6 of BRCA1 exon 18 induces exclusion of the exon from the mRNA and, as has been suggested by in silico analysis, disrupts an ASF/SF2-dependent splicing enhancer. We show here using a pulldown assay with an internal standard that wild-type (WT) and mutant T6 sequences displayed similar ASF/SF2 binding efficiencies, which were significantly lower than that of a typical exonic splicing enhancer derived from the extra domain A exon of fibronectin. Overexpression or small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated depletion of ASF/SF2 did not affect the splicing of a WT BRCA1 minigene but resulted in an increase and decrease of T6 exon 18 inclusion, respectively. Furthermore, extensive mutation analysis using hybrid minigenes indicated that the T6 mutant creates a sequence with a prevalently inhibitory function. Indeed, RNA-protein interaction and siRNA experiments showed that the skipping of T6 BRCA1 exon 18 is due to the creation of a splicing factor-dependent silencer. This sequence specifically binds to the known repressor protein hnRNPA1/A2 and to DAZAP1, the involvement of which in splicing inhibition we have demonstrated. Our results indicate that the binding of the splicing factors hnRNPA1/A2 and DAZAP1 is the primary determinant of T6 BRCA1 exon 18 exclusion.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alternative Splicing*
  • BRCA1 Protein / genetics*
  • Base Sequence
  • Cell Line
  • Exons
  • Gene Silencing*
  • Heterogeneous Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein A1
  • Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein Group A-B / genetics
  • Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein Group A-B / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutation
  • Nuclear Proteins / metabolism
  • RNA, Small Interfering / genetics
  • RNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism*
  • Serine-Arginine Splicing Factors

Substances

  • BRCA1 Protein
  • BRCA1 protein, human
  • DAZAP1 protein, human
  • Heterogeneous Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein A1
  • Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein Group A-B
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • RNA-Binding Proteins
  • hnRNP A2
  • hnRNPA1 protein, human
  • Serine-Arginine Splicing Factors