The prevalence of alternative splicing as a target for alterations leading to human genetic disorders makes it highly relevant for therapy. Here we have used in vitro splicing reactions with different splicing reporter constructs to screen 4,000 chemical compounds for their ability to selectively inhibit spliceosome assembly and splicing. We discovered indole derivatives as potent inhibitors of the splicing reaction. Importantly, compounds of this family specifically inhibit exonic splicing enhancer (ESE)-dependent splicing, because they interact directly and selectively with members of the serine-arginine-rich protein family. Treatment of cells expressing reporter constructs with ESE sequences demonstrated that selected indole derivatives mediate inhibition of ESE usage in vivo and prevent early splicing events required for HIV replication. This discovery opens the exciting possibility of a causal pharmacological treatment of aberrant splicing in human genetic disorders and development of new antiviral therapeutic approaches.
Selective modification of alternative splicing by indole derivatives that target serine-arginine-rich protein splicing factors
Soret, J.; Bakkour, N.; Maire, S.; Durand, S.; Zekri, L.; Gabut, M.; Fic, W.; Divita, G.; Rivalle, C.; Dauzonne, D.; Nguyen, C. H.; Jeanteur, P.; Tazi, J.
2005
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
2005-06-14 / vol 102 / pages 8764-9
Abstract
Tags
Humans; DNA Primers; Nuclear Proteins/*metabolism; Hela Cells; Genetic Vectors/genetics; Alternative Splicing/drug effects/*genetics; HIV-1/drug effects/*metabolism; Indoles/*metabolism/pharmacology; Ribonucleoproteins/*metabolism; RNA Splicing/drug effects/*physiology; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; Spliceosomes/genetics/*metabolism