SummaryIn higher eukaryotes, U1 snRNP forms spliceosomes in equal stoichiometry with U2, U4, U5 and U6, however its abundance far exceeds that of the other snRNPs. Here, we used antisense morpholino oligonucleotide (AMO) to U1 snRNA for functional U1 snRNP knockdown in HeLa cells and identified accumulated unspliced pre-mRNAs by genomic tiling microarrays. Remarkably, in addition to inhibiting splicing, U1 snRNP knockdown caused premature cleavage and polyadenylation (PCPA) in numerous pre-mRNAs at cryptic polyadenylation signals (PASs), frequently in introns near (< 5 kb) the start of the transcript. This did not occur when splicing was inhibited with U2 snRNA AMO or the U2 snRNP inactivating drug, spliceostatin A, unless U1 AMO was also included. We further show that U1 snRNA-pre-mRNA base pairing was required to suppress PCPA from nearby cryptic PASs located in introns. These findings reveal a critical splicing-independent function for U1 snRNP in protecting the transcriptome, which we propose explains its overabundance.

The survival of motor neurons (SMN) protein is essential for the biogenesis of small nuclear RNA (snRNA)-ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs), the major components of the pre-mRNA splicing machinery. Though it is ubiquitously expressed, SMN deficiency causes the motor neuron degenerative disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). We show here that SMN deficiency, similar to that which occurs in severe SMA, has unexpected cell type-specific effects on the repertoire of snRNAs and mRNAs. It alters the stoichiometry of snRNAs and causes widespread pre-mRNA splicing defects in numerous transcripts of diverse genes, preferentially those containing a large number of introns, in SMN-deficient mouse tissues. These findings reveal a key role for the SMN complex in RNA metabolism and in splicing regulation and indicate that SMA is a general splicing disease that is not restricted to motor neurons.

Summary The SMN complex assembles Sm cores on snRNAs, a key step in the biogenesis of snRNPs, the spliceosome's major components. Here, using SMN complex inhibitors identified by high throughput screening and a ribo-proteomic strategy on formaldehyde crosslinked RNPs, we dissected this pathway in cells. We show that protein synthesis inhibition impairs the SMN complex, revealing discrete SMN and Gemin subunits and accumulating an snRNA precursor (pre-snRNA)-Gemin5 intermediate. By high throughput sequencing of this transient intermediate's RNAs, we discovered the previously undetectable precursors of all the snRNAs and identified their Gemin5 binding sites. We demonstrate that pre-snRNA 3′-sequences function to enhance snRNP biogenesis. The SMN complex is also inhibited by oxidation and we show that it stalls an inventory-complete SMN complex containing pre-snRNAs. We propose a stepwise pathway of SMN complex formation and snRNP biogenesis, highlighting Gemin5's function in delivering pre-snRNAs as substrates for Sm core assembly and processing.