Coordinated Regulation of Alternative Splicing and Alternative Polyadenylation

In higher eukaryotes, alternative splicing (AS) and alternative polyadenylation (APA) have been reported as highly specialized mechanisms to regulate transcriptome and proteome diversity from a limited number of genes to support physiological functions. It was widely believed that AS and APA are independent regulatory mechanisms, however, recent studies provide compelling evidences that AS and APA are often coupled simultaneously, or competitively regulated to promote gene expression. Therefore, fine-tuned coordination and spatiotemporal expression of AS and APA regulatory factors are critical to accomplish transcriptome and proteome diversity that higher eukaryotes have acquired in course of evolution. Here, we discuss recent advances and current understanding in this area, which could be helpful to provide important insights and directions for future research.

Keywords: Alternative splicing, alternative polyadenylation, RNA-binding protein Abbreviations: AS, alternative splicing; APA, alternative polyadenylation; snRNP, small nuclear ribonucleoprotein; RBP, RNA-binding protein; hnRNP, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein; SS, splice site, UTR, untranslated region; CPSF, cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor; CstF, cleavage stimulation factor.