Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 25, 2026

Engineering Artificial Factors to Specifically Manipulate Alternative Splicing in Human Cells
10:06

Engineering Artificial Factors to Specifically Manipulate Alternative Splicing in Human Cells

Published on: April 26, 2017

[Disturbances of alternative splicing in cancer]

Hanna Wiszomirska1, Agnieszka Piekiełko-Witkowska, Alicja Nauman

  • 1Zakład Biochemii i Biologii Molekularnej, Centrum Medyczne Kształcenia Podyplomowego, Warszawa.

Postepy Biochemii
|January 13, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Alternative splicing, a key RNA modification, can lead to cancer when dysregulated. Aberrant splicing may offer new diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for cancer treatment.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics
  • Cancer Research

Context:

  • Pre-messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) splicing is a crucial post-transcriptional modification.
  • The spliceosome complex catalyzes pre-mRNA splicing, enabling the removal of introns and joining of exons.
  • Alternative splicing allows for the generation of diverse messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein isoforms from a single gene.

Purpose:

  • To review the role of splicing disturbances in genes controlling proliferation and metastasis in tumoral transformation.
  • To discuss the potential of abnormally spliced transcripts as diagnostic biomarkers for cancer.
  • To explore the therapeutic applications of targeting aberrant splicing in anticancer strategies.

Summary:

  • Alternative splicing is regulated by cis-acting elements and trans-acting factors, including SR and hnRNP proteins.
  • Mutations in cis elements or altered expression of splicing factors can lead to aberrant pre-mRNA splicing.
  • Dysregulation of splicing in proliferation and metastasis-controlling genes contributes to cancer development.

Impact:

  • Abnormally spliced transcripts may serve as novel diagnostic biomarkers for early cancer detection.
  • Targeting aberrant splicing pathways presents a promising avenue for developing innovative anticancer therapies.
  • Understanding splicing alterations provides insights into cancer progression and potential vulnerabilities.

More Related Videos

Detection of Alternative Splicing During Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition11:48

Detection of Alternative Splicing During Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

Published on: October 9, 2014

Using the E1A Minigene Tool to Study mRNA Splicing Changes10:25

Using the E1A Minigene Tool to Study mRNA Splicing Changes

Published on: April 22, 2021

Related Concept Videos

RNA Splicing01:32

RNA Splicing

Splicing is the process by which eukaryotic RNA is edited before its translation into protein. The RNA strand transcribed from eukaryotic DNA is called the primary transcript. The primary transcripts that become mRNAs are called precursor messenger RNAs (pre-mRNAs). Eukaryotic pre-mRNA contains alternating sequences of exons and introns. Exons are nucleotide sequences that code for proteins, whereas introns are the non-coding regions. In RNA splicing, introns are removed and exons are bonded...
RNA Splicing01:32

RNA Splicing

Splicing is the process by which eukaryotic RNA is edited before its translation into protein. The RNA strand transcribed from eukaryotic DNA is called the primary transcript. The primary transcripts that become mRNAs are called precursor messenger RNAs (pre-mRNAs). Eukaryotic pre-mRNA contains alternating sequences of exons and introns. Exons are nucleotide sequences that code for proteins, whereas introns are the non-coding regions. In RNA splicing, introns are removed and exons are bonded...
Alternative RNA Splicing02:18

Alternative RNA Splicing

Alternative RNA splicing is the regulated splicing of exons and introns to produce different mature mRNAs from a single pre-mRNA. Unlike in constitutive splicing where a single gene produces a single type of mRNA, alternative splicing allows an organism to produce multiple proteins from a single gene and plays an important role in protein diversity.
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...
Alternative RNA Splicing02:18

Alternative RNA Splicing

Alternative RNA splicing is the regulated splicing of exons and introns to produce different mature mRNAs from a single pre-mRNA. Unlike in constitutive splicing where a single gene produces a single type of mRNA, alternative splicing allows an organism to produce multiple proteins from a single gene and plays an important role in protein diversity.
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...
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell02:21

Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell

Cancer arises from mutations in the critical genes that allow healthy cells to escape cell cycle regulation and acquire the ability to proliferate indefinitely. Though originating from a single mutation event in one of the originator cells, cancer progresses when the mutant cell lines continue to gain more and more mutations, and finally, become malignant. For example, chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) develops initially as a non-lethal increase in white blood cells, which progressively...
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell02:21

Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell

Cancer arises from mutations in the critical genes that allow healthy cells to escape cell cycle regulation and acquire the ability to proliferate indefinitely. Though originating from a single mutation event in one of the originator cells, cancer progresses when the mutant cell lines continue to gain more and more mutations, and finally, become malignant. For example, chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) develops initially as a non-lethal increase in white blood cells, which progressively...