Small Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein 35kDa (SNRNP35)

SNRNP35, Contains 1 RRM (RNA recognition motif) dom, Expressed in heart, liver, skeletal muscle and pancreas. U11 and U12 snRNPs bind U12-type pre-mRNAs as a preformed di-snRNP complex, simultaneously recognizing the 5' splice site and branchpoint sequence. Thus, within the U12-type prespliceosome, U11/U12 components form a molecular bridge connecting both ends of the intron. U11/U12 snRNPs lack all known U1 snRNP proteins but contain seven novel proteins not found in the major spliceosome, four of which (59K, 48K, 35K, and 25K) are U11-associated. Thus, protein-protein and protein-RNA interactions contributing to 5' splice site recognition and/or intron bridging appear to differ significantly in the minor versus major prespliceosome. The majority of U11/U12 proteins are highly conserved in organisms known to contain U12-type introns.