REGULATION OF ALTERNATIVE SPLICING IN THE AMYLOID PRECURSOR PROTEIN (APP) MESSENGER-RNA DURING NEURONAL AND GLIAL DIFFERENTIATION OF P19 EMBRYONAL CARCINOMA-CELLS

Cell-specific alteration in the splicing of exons 7, 8 and 15 of the a myloid precursor protein gene was investigated in differenting P19 EC cells into neuronal and glial cells. Exons 7 and 8 were skipped in the neuronal state and exon 15 was skipped in the glial state. Expression of U2AF, one of the essential factor for splicing in mammalian cells, was down-regulated during cellular differentiation. The skipping of e xon 15 was suppressed in the glial cells transfected with U2AF. Thus, a reduction in U2AF is believed to play a crucial role in glial-specif ic splicing of the APP gene.