ABSTRACT
Pre-mRNA splicing requires the activities o f small nuclear ribonucleoproteins and other essential splicing factors. Among these are members o f the SR protein family and SR-related proteins, which are integrally involved in regulating exon recognition, spliceosomal assem bly, and spliceosomal re-arrangements to promote intron excision. This chapter will focus on the discovery o f SR proteins and SR-related proteins, their structural organization, and their activities in mediating pre-mRNA splicing. The importance o f SR-proteins in spliceosomal recruitment will be contrasted to other mechanisms resulting in alternative splicing. An additional aspect o f the chapter will be a discussion on how reversible phosphorylation o f the RS domain dictates SR protein activity and localization.
