A defining characteristic of all eukaryotic nuclear genomes is that they harbour introns. Introns are removed (spliced) from precursor (m)RNAs co- or post-transcriptionally to generate mRNA and long non-coding RNAs. In many multicellular organisms, accurate splicing, including balancing alternative splicing choices, is critical to development and differentiation. Splicing is essential for gene expression and influences RNA stability, RNA transport, translation efficiency, and proteome diversity.

Moreover, the spliceosome is a highly complex molecular machine, which will assemble de novo from over 150 proteins and 5 small nuclear RNAs for each reaction that it catalyses. What fascinates us is not only how this assembly is regulated but how the spliceosome can handle its very diverse substrate pool. 

The goal of our research is to understand how splice sites are chosen as assembly points for the spliceosome and how spliceosome assembly is regulated to guarantee correct splicing across substrates and different environments. By gaining a detailed mechanistic understanding of splicing and its regulation within the cell, we can not only understand fundamental eukaryotic biology but also human disease.

We tackle these questions with an interdisciplinary approach by combining genetics & genomics with molecular biology, biochemistry and biophysics.

CONTACT US

Institute of Molecular Infection Biology
Julius-Maximilian-Universität Würzburg
Josef-Schneider-Str. 2 / Bau D15, 97080 Würzburg

irene[dot]beusch[at]uni-wuerzburg.de