video: In this movie, which plays 150-times faster than real time, white spots represent light emitted from single fluorescent spliceosome subunits as they interact with single RNA (ribonucleic acid) molecules attached to a glass surface. The U1 subunit of the spliceosome was labeled with fluorescent molecules (red stars) that emit light after being turned on by a red laser, while the U2 subunit was labeled with a fluorescent molecule (green star) that emits light after being turned on by a green laser. U1 interacts with the RNA either in the presence or absence of a common source of cellular energy, ATP (adenosine-5'-triphosphate), and generates white spots that last for long periods of time (left panels). However, U2 (right panels) interacts with the RNA only in the presence of ATP to generate the long-lived white spots. This video relates to an article that appeared in the March 11, 2011, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Aaron A. Hoskins, at Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Worcester, Mass., and colleagues was titled, "Ordered and Dynamic Assembly of Single Spliceosomes." view more
Credit: Video file courtesy of Aaron A. Hoskins, Jeff Gelles and Melissa J. Moore