Identification of CELF splicing activation and repression domains in vivo

CUG-BP and ETR-3 like factor (CELF) proteins are regulators of pre-mRNA alternative splicing. We created a series of truncation mutants to identify the regions of CELF proteins that are required to activate and to repress alternative splicing of different exons. This analysis was performed in parallel on two CELF proteins, ETR-3 (CUG-BP2, NAPOR, BRUNOL3) and CELF4 (BRUNOL4). We identified a 20-residue region of CELF4 required for repression or activation, in contrast to ETR-3, for which the required residues are more disperse. For both ETR-3 and CELF4, distinct regions were required to activate splicing of two different alternative exons, while regions required for repression of an additional third exon overlapped with regions required for activation. Our results suggest that activation of different splicing events by individual CELF proteins requires separable regions, implying the nature of the protein–protein interactions required for activation are target-dependent. The finding that residues required for activation and repression overlap suggests either that the same region interacts with different proteins to mediate different effects or that interactions with the same proteins can have different effects on splicing due to yet-to-be defined downstream events. These results provide a foundation for identifying CELF-interacting proteins involved in activated and/or repressed splicing.