5'-UTR mediated translational control of splicing assembly factor RNP-4F expression during development of the Drosophila central nervous system.

Drosophila RNP-4F is a highly conserved protein from yeast to human and functions as a spliceosome assembly factor during pre-mRNA splicing. Two major developmentally regulated rnp-4f mRNA isoforms have been described during fly development, designated "long" and "short," differing by a 177-nt tract in the 5'-UTR. This region potentially folds into a single long stable stem-loop by pairing of intron 0 and part of exon 2.