Serine/Arginine Repetitive Matrix Protein 4 (SRRM4)

SRRM4 promotes alternative splicing and inclusion of neural-specific exons in target mRNAs. Nsr100 was expressed prior to induced differentiation in the mouse neuronal cell line Neuro2a. Short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown of Nsr100 in Neuro2a cells had no effect on cell viability, but it reduced neurite extension. Knockdown of Nsr100 in mouse embryonic stem cells or adult neural stem cells had no effect on morphology or proliferation, but it reduced neurosphere formation. Microarray and RT-PCR analyses revealed that knockdown of Nsr100 significantly reduced neuron-specific alternative splicing of over 100 genes. Nuero2a cell lines expressing several test minigenes showed that both Nsr100 and Ptbp2 were required for inclusion of neuron-specific exons.