RNP Particles, Splicing and Autoimmune Diseases

The maturation of the precursors of mRNA to a functional transcript in eukaryotic cells is a complex, multistep process. It includes the formation of RNP complexes and the splicing procedure. Also, the presence of snRNA packaged as snRNP particles plays an important role in this process. In addition, snRNPs are involved in various autoimmune diseases in which autoantibodies are directed against components of these particles. Relevant techniques to investigate RNA processing, splicing, protein-RNA complex formation and protein-RNA interactions as well as the use of autoantibodies in basic and clinical research are presented in this manual.