Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Detection of Alternative Splicing During Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Published on: October 9, 2014
Structure and evolution of the alternatively spliced fast troponin T isoform gene
E A Bucher1, G K Dhoot, M M Emerson
1Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6058, USA. bucher@mail.med.upenn.edu
Abstract:
The vertebrate fast skeletal muscle troponin T gene, TnTf, produces a complexity of isoforms through differential mRNA splicing. The mechanisms that regulate splicing and the physiological significance of TnTf isoforms are poorly understood. To investigate these questions, we have determined the complete sequence structure of the quail TnTf gene, and we have characterized the developmental expression of alternatively spliced TnTf mRNAs in quail embryonic muscles. We report the following: 1) the quail TnTf gene is significantly larger than the rat TnTf gene and has 8 non-homologous exons, including a pectoral muscle-specific set of alternatively spliced exons; 2) specific sequences are implicated in regulated exon splicing; 3) a 900-base pair sequence element, composed primarily of intron sequence flanking the pectoral muscle-specific exons, is tandemly repeated 4 times and once partially, providing direct evidence that the pectoral-specific TnT exon domain arose by intragenic duplications; 4) a chicken repeat 1 retrotransposon element resides upstream of this repeated intronic/pectoral exon sequence domain and is implicated in transposition of this element into an ancestral genome; and 5) a large set of novel isoforms, produced by regulated exon splicing, is expressed in quail muscles, providing insights into the developmental regulation, physiological function, and evolution of the vertebrate TnTf isoforms.
Related Concept Videos
RNA Splicing
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...
Alternative RNA Splicing
There are five types of alternative RNA splicing that vary in the ways the pre-mRNA segments are removed or retained in the mature mRNA. The first...
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...
Alternative RNA Splicing
There are five types of alternative RNA splicing that vary in the ways the pre-mRNA segments are removed or retained in the mature mRNA. The first...
The Sarcomere
Each myosin...

