Alternative Splicing and Glial Maturation
Definition
The number of protein-coding genes in an organism does not always correlate with its overall cellular complexity. Genes may be relatively simple, containing only a single or a small number of exons; some genes, however, may be incredibly complex and can give rise to literally thousands of different protein isoforms. One way to generate a huge variety of different protein variants from a gene with only moderately complex organization is alternative splicing. This mechanism amplifies the complexity of the 30,000 human genes to astronomic numbers. Furthermore, alternate splicing mechanisms may act on top of an already sophisticated transcriptional control system, and these combined mechanisms enable the development of complex organisms. Here we review how differential splicing regulates glial cell maturation in flies and mammals.
Characteristics
Several known examples indicate that alternative splicing may result in distinct and even opposite functional consequences, either...
References
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