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First published online November 7, 2008

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Eyes on alternative splicing in development

An important form of transcriptional gene regulation is alternative splicing (AS), the generation of several proteins from one gene. However, the identity of the RNA-binding proteins that control AS during development remains largely unknown. Now, Constance Cepko and co-workers reveal a temporal requirement for the AS factor Sfrs1, an arginine/serine-rich (SR) protein family member, in the survival of mouse retinal neurons (see p. 3923). They show that Sfrs1 is expressed in the developing mouse retina and is itself regulated by AS. The loss of Sfrs1 function during embryonic development, they report, causes the formation of small retinas that degenerate further after birth. Other experiments show that in the absence of Sfrs1, early-born retinal neurons are produced and begin differentiation, but then die through apoptosis; by contrast, late-born retinal neurons survive. The authors propose, therefore, that embryonically generated retinal neurons require Sfrs1-mediated alternative splicing for their terminal differentiation and/or maintenance, but postnatally generated neurons do not, thus highlighting a dynamic role for AS during development.

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Related articles in Development:

Temporal requirement of the alternative-splicing factor Sfrs1 for the survival of retinal neurons

Rahul N. Kanadia, Victoria E. Clark, Claudio Punzo, Jeffrey M. Trimarchi, and Constance L. Cepko
Development 2008 135: 3923-3933. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?