RNA-RNA interaction and gene splicing

The precise excision of intervening sequences during RNA splicing is an interesting example of the high degree of specificity involved in biosynthesis processes. Self-splicing RNA precursors achieve this specificity primarily through intramolecular interactions whereas all other types of RNA splicing requires interaction between cellular factors and specific recognition signals in the RNA precursor. About twelve years ago, the in vitro splicing system was developed and a general scheme of the pre-mRNA was proposed (Hernandez and Keller, 1983; Krainer et al., 1984; Lin et al., 1985; Padgett et al., 1984; Ruskin et al., 1984). A fundamental question in the splicing field is how the 5' and 3' splice sites are recognized and paired during the splicing reaction. Recent work in the splicing field has established that a network of RNA interactions may form the structural foundation of the spliceosomes. Possible solutions to many unsolved puzzles are getting attention. RNA-RNA interactions now appear to underlie many aspects of substrate recognition, reaction partner juxtaposition and catalysis. In this article we have presented the latest mechanisms involved in the pre-mRNA splicing and their implication in applied research including cancer.