Gene expression is an intricately regulated process that is at the basis of cell differentiation, the maintenance of cell identity and the cellular responses to environmental changes. Alternative splicing, the process by which multiple functionally distinct transcripts are generated from a single gene, is one of the main mechanisms that contribute to expand the coding capacity of genomes and help explain the level of complexity achieved by higher organisms. Eukaryotic transcription is subject to multiple layers of regulation both intrinsic — such as promoter structure — and dynamic, allowing the cell to respond to internal and external signals. Similarly, alternative splicing choices are affected by all of these aspects, mainly through the regulation of transcription elongation, making it a regulatory knob on a par with the regulation of gene expression levels. This review aims to recapitulate some of the history and stepping-stones that led to the paradigms held today about transcription and splicing regulation, with major focus on transcription elongation and its effect on alternative splicing.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
August 2020
-
Cover Image
Cover Image
Cover image adapted from a genetic assay using a conditional mutant allelle of DNA replication gives clues about enzyme function. The phenotype observed in this work launched detailed biochemical analysis about how Lhr helicase interacts with forked DNA, a new route replication-coupled DNA repair. For more information, see the article by Buckley and colleagues (pp. 2935–2947). The image was provided by Edward Bolt.
Review Article|
August 28 2020
Linking transcription, RNA polymerase II elongation and alternative splicing
Luciana E. Giono;
Luciana E. Giono
1Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE-UBA-CONICET), Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón IFIBYNE, C1428EHA Buenos Aires, Argentina
Search for other works by this author on:
Alberto R. Kornblihtt
1Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE-UBA-CONICET), Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón IFIBYNE, C1428EHA Buenos Aires, Argentina
2Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón II, C1428EHA Buenos Aires, Argentina
Correspondence: Alberto R. Kornblihtt (ark@fbmc.fcen.uba.ar)
Search for other works by this author on:
Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
June 15 2020
Revision Received:
July 31 2020
Accepted:
August 04 2020
Online ISSN: 1470-8728
Print ISSN: 0264-6021
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society
2020
Biochem J (2020) 477 (16): 3091–3104.
Article history
Received:
June 15 2020
Revision Received:
July 31 2020
Accepted:
August 04 2020
Citation
Luciana E. Giono, Alberto R. Kornblihtt; Linking transcription, RNA polymerase II elongation and alternative splicing. Biochem J 28 August 2020; 477 (16): 3091–3104. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20200475
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign in to your personal account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Captcha Validation Error. Please try again.