AFFINITY PURIFICATION OF SPLICEOSOMES REVEALS THAT THE PRECURSOR RNA PROCESSING PROTEIN PRP8, A PROTEIN IN THE U5 SMALL NUCLEAR RIBONUCLEOPROTEIN PARTICLE, IS A COMPONENT OF YEAST SPLICEOSOMES

Nuclear pre-mRNA splicing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as in higher eukaryotes, occurs in large RNA-protein complexes called spliceosomes. The small nuclear RNA components, U1, U2, U4, U5, and U6, have been extensively studied; however, very little is known about the protein components of yeast spliceosomes. Here we use antibodies against the precursor RNA processing protein PRP8, a protein component of the U5 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle, to detect its association with spliceosomes throughout the splicing reaction and in a post-splicing complex containing the excised intron. In addition, an indirect immunological approach has been developed that confirms the presence of precursor RNA processing protein PRP8 in isolated spliceosomes. This method has possible general application for the analysis of ribonucleoprotein particle complexes.