Ligand-induced sequestering of branchpoint sequence allows conditional control of splicing

Both 795 classes are crossing over with discussions on riboswitches and RNA splicing. I think it is very interesting to see the application from both the chemical biology and engineering standpoints. These switches are a very nice way to control gene expression, but can also be modified to create new biosensors! In Gavin's class we only discussed protein sensing aptamers, but not any small molecule sensors. For Deiters' class this is a another example of a small molecule switch. This paper describes the use of the theophylline riboswitch to control mRNA splicing. They have previously shown that the theophylline switch can inhibit splicing when attached to the 3' end of the pre-mRNA. This paper tries to improve splicing control by inserting the branch point sequence inside the theophylline aptamer.