Biochemists Uncover How Cells Eliminate RNA Splicing Errors
7th April 2025
Two molecular control factors play a key role in splicing, the process by which precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) is cut and reassembled into mature mRNA, a critical step before protein production can occur in the cell. These largely uncharacterized factors are essential for ensuring the proper function of the splicing machinery. A research team led by Prof. Dr. Ed Hurt at the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center, in collaboration with colleagues from Fudan University in Shanghai (China), has uncovered how these two cellular “quality control inspectors” operate.
Proteins, the fundamental building blocks of cells, carry out essential functions throughout the body. The instructions for building them are encoded in DNA. To translate this genetic information into proteins, the relevant DNA sequences must first be transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA).
Initially, the cell produces a precursor mRNA (pre-mRNA) that includes both coding regions (exons) and non-coding regions (introns). Before the mRNA can be used to make proteins, the introns must be removed and the exons precisely joined together, a process called splicing, which takes place in the cell nucleus. The result is a mature mRNA strand made up solely of protein-coding exons, ready to guide protein synthesis.