Cotranscriptional exon skipping in the genotoxic stress response

Pre-mRNA splicing is functionally coupled to transcription, and genotoxic stresses can enhance alternative exon inclusion by affecting elongating RNA polymerase II. We report here that various genotoxic stress inducers, including camptothecin, inhibit the interaction between EWS, an RNA polymerase II-associated factor, and YB-1, a spliceosome-associated factor. This results in the cotranscriptional skipping of several exons of the MDM2 gene encoding the main p53 ubiquitin-ligase. This reversible exon skipping participates in the timely regulation of MDM2 expression, and may contribute to the accumulation of p53 during stress exposure and its rapid shut off when stress is removed. Finally, a splicing-sensitive microarray identified numerous exons that are skipped in response to camptothecin and EWS/YB-1 depletion. These data demonstrate genotoxic stress-induced alteration of the communication between the transcriptional and splicing machineries, resulting in widespread exon skipping and playing a central role in the genotoxic stress response. 6 samples of MCF7 cells exposed to different treatments were analyzed: 3 x control_6 hours; 3 x camptothecin_6 hours.