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U2AF1 — U2AF Auxiliary Factor 1
U2AF1 — U2AF Auxiliary Factor 1
<table class="infobox infobox-gene">
<tr>
<th class="infobox-header" colspan="2">u2af1</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Species</td>
<td>Gene Name</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">S. cerevisiae</td>
<td>Lea1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">C. elegans</td>
<td>unc-75</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">D. melanogaster</td>
<td>U2af50A</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">D. rerio</td>
<td>u2af1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">M. musculus</td>
<td>U2af1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">H.
U2AF1 — U2AF Auxiliary Factor 1
<table class="infobox infobox-gene">
<tr>
<th class="infobox-header" colspan="2">u2af1</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Species</td>
<td>Gene Name</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">S. cerevisiae</td>
<td>Lea1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">C. elegans</td>
<td>unc-75</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">D. melanogaster</td>
<td>U2af50A</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">D. rerio</td>
<td>u2af1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">M. musculus</td>
<td>U2af1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">H. sapiens</td>
<td>U2AF1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Gene Symbol</td>
<td>U2AF1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Full Name</td>
<td>U2AF Auxiliary Factor 1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Chromosomal Location</td>
<td>21q22.3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">NCBI Gene ID</td>
<td>7277</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Ensembl ID</td>
<td>ENSG00000160207</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">UniProt ID</td>
<td>P35820</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">OMIM</td>
<td>191315</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Gene Type</td>
<td>Protein coding</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Protein Name</td>
<td>U2AF1 (U2AF small subunit)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Molecular Weight</td>
<td>35 kDa</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Amino Acids</td>
<td>289 amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Subcellular Localization</td>
<td>Nucleus (speckled pattern)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Protein Family</td>
<td>U2AF auxiliary factor family</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Molecular Change</td>
<td>Effect</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">U2AF1 expression</td>
<td>↓ in AD brain</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Alternative splicing</td>
<td>Widespread dysregulation</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Intron retention</td>
<td>Increased in neurons</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">3' splice site selection</td>
<td>Altered efficiency</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Finding</td>
<td>Study</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">↑ intron retention in MAPT</td>
<td>Conlon et al. 2020</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">↓ splicing fidelity</td>
<td>Wang et al. 2021</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">U2AF1 mutations</td>
<td>Ilaga et al. 2019</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Alternative exons</td>
<td>Zhang et al. 2019</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Study</td>
<td>Finding</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Liu et al. 2017</td>
<td>Splicing changes in PD substantia nigra</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Ilaga et al. 2019</td>
<td>Somatic U2AF1 mutations in AD brain</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Chen et al. 2018</td>
<td>Stress-responsive splicing factors</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Variant</td>
<td>Effect</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">p.Ser34Phe</td>
<td>Altered RNA binding</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">p.Ile36Thr</td>
<td>Reduced activity</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">p.Gln39Arg</td>
<td>Splicing defect</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">p.Gly197Val</td>
<td>Oncogenic</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Cell Type</td>
<td>Expression Level</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Neurons</td>
<td>High</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Astrocytes</td>
<td>Moderate</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Microglia</td>
<td>Low-Moderate</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Oligodendrocytes</td>
<td>Moderate</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Vascular endothelial</td>
<td>Low</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Interactor</td>
<td>Function</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">U2AF2</td>
<td>Large subunit</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">SF1</td>
<td>Branch point binding</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">SF3B155</td>
<td>Splicing fidelity</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">SRSF2</td>
<td>Serine/arginine splicing</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">HNRNPA1</td>
<td>hnRNP A1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">SMN1</td>
<td>Spliceosome assembly</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Drug</td>
<td>Target</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">E7107</td>
<td>SF3B1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">H3B-8800</td>
<td>SF3B1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Pladienolide B</td>
<td>SF3B1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Biomarker</td>
<td>Source</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">U2AF1 splicing target</td>
<td>Blood</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Intron retention index</td>
<td>CSF RNA</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Splicing factor modification</td>
<td>Brain tissue</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">System</td>
<td>Application</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">U2AF1 knockout mice</td>
<td>Developmental function</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Conditional KO</td>
<td>Tissue-specific knockout</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">iPSC neurons</td>
<td>Disease modeling</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Drosophila unc-75</td>
<td>In vivo studies</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">C. elegans</td>
<td>Genetic screening</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Finding</td>
<td>Method</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">U2AF1 mutants alter MAPT splicing</td>
<td>Minigene assay</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Introns retained in AD brain</td>
<td>RNA-seq</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Stress granule recruitment</td>
<td>Immunofluorescence</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Splicing factor mutations</td>
<td>Whole exome</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Disease</td>
<td>Mechanism</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Alzheimer's disease</td>
<td>Alternative splicing shifts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Parkinson's disease</td>
<td>α-Synuclein splicing</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">ALS</td>
<td>Intron retention</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">FTLD</td>
<td>Tau exon 10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Huntington's</td>
<td>Mutant HTT splicing</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Spinocerebellar ataxia</td>
<td>Cerebellar splicing</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Region</td>
<td>Expression</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Substantia nigra pars compacta</td>
<td>High</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Hippocampus CA1</td>
<td>High</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Frontal cortex layer 5</td>
<td>Moderate</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Cerebellar Purkinje cells</td>
<td>High</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Motor cortex</td>
<td>Moderate</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Dorsal motor nucleus</td>
<td>High</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Strategy</td>
<td>Target</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Antisense oligonucleotides</td>
<td>Specific exons</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Spliceosome modulators</td>
<td>SF3B1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Gene therapy</td>
<td>U2AF1 wild-type</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">RNA stabilizers</td>
<td>Intronic RNAs</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Phase</td>
<td>Estimated Cost</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Discovery</td>
<td>$5-10M</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Preclinical</td>
<td>$20-50M</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Phase 1/2</td>
<td>$30-80M</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Phase 3</td>
<td>$100-200M</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">Associated Diseases</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/als" style="color:#ef9a9a">Als</a>, <a href="/wiki/alzheimer" style="color:#ef9a9a">Alzheimer</a>, <a href="/wiki/breast-cancer" style="color:#ef9a9a">Breast Cancer</a>, <a href="/wiki/cancer" style="color:#ef9a9a">Cancer</a>, <a href="/wiki/cardiovascular" style="color:#ef9a9a">Cardiovascular</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="label">KG Connections</td>
<td><a href="/atlas" style="color:#4fc3f7">58 edges</a></td>
</tr>
</table>
Overview
U2AF1 encodes the small subunit (35 kDa) of the U2AF heterodimer, a fundamental component of the pre-mRNA splicing machinery. The U2AF protein plays a critical role in recognizing the 3' splice site (pyrimidine-rich tract followed by the conserved AG acceptor) during spliceosome assembly. This function places U2AF1 at a central node in eukaryotic gene expression, where dysregulation can have profound effects on cellular homeostasis[@graubert2012][@yoshida2014].
The gene is located on chromosome 21q22.3, and pathogenic variants are well-established drivers of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). More recent research has implicated U2AF1 dysfunction in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and related tauopathies[@ilaga2019][@smith2019].
Evolutionary Conservation
U2AF1 is highly conserved across eukaryotes:
The conservation of RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) underscores the fundamental splicing mechanism.
Structure-Function Relationships
[N-term]---[RRM1]---[RRM2]---[RRM3]---[UHM]
1-55 56-125 126-190 191-255 256-289
Phosphorylation sites: Serine 98, Serine 156
Sumoylation: Lysine 234
Key functional residues:
- RRM1 (56-125): Core RNA binding, recognizes polypyrimidine tract
- RRM2 (126-190): Secondary RNA contact
- RRM3 (191-255): AG acceptor recognition
- UHM (256-289): Dimerization with U2AF2
Gene Information
Protein Overview
Molecular Function
Splicing Recognition
U2AF1, together with its partner U2AF2 (65 kDa large subunit), constitutes the U2AF heterodimer:
Domain Architecture
[RRM1]---[RRM2]---[RRM3]---[UHM]
U2AF2 U2AF2 Ligand
binding binding binding
- RRM1-3: Three RNA recognition motifs
- UHM: U2AF homology motif for U2AF2 binding
- N-terminal: Regulatory domain with phosphorylation sites
Role in Alzheimer's Disease
The Spliceosome in Neurodegeneration
The spliceosome—a large ribonucleoprotein complex that catalyzes pre-mRNA splicing—is increasingly recognized as a pivotal player in AD pathogenesis[@wang2021]. The discovery that somatic mutations in splicing factor genes including U2AF1 occur in AD brain suggests that spliceosome dysfunction may be more widespread than previously appreciated[@ilaga2019]:
- Somatic mutation burden: Splicing factors show elevated mutation rates in AD neurons
- Splicing fidelity decline: Age-associated decrease in accurate splicing
- Intron retention: Global increases in retained introns
- Alternative splicing shifts: Widespread changes in isoform usage
Splicing Dysregulation
The spliceosome is increasingly recognized as a key player in AD pathogenesis[@wang2021]:
Tauopathy Connection
The intersection of U2AF1 dysfunction and tauopathy represents a significant research frontier[@brooks2020]:
Mechanistic Links:
Evidence from Human Studies:
Tauopathy Connection
U2AF1 dysfunction may contribute to tauopathy through[@brooks2020]:
Mechanistic Model
Role in Parkinson's Disease
Alpha-Synuclein Splicing
RNA splicing alterations affecting PD-relevant genes[@Liu2017]:
Mitochondrial Splicing
U2AF1 contributes to mitochondrial function:
- Complex I subunit splicing
- Mitochondrial DNA-encoded transcripts
- Energy metabolism genes
- ROS response genes
Evidence for Involvement
Splicing Factor Network
The splicing machinery forms an interconnected network:
Genetics
Pathogenic Variants (MDS/AML)
AD/PD Risk
- No mendelian variants identified yet
- Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) may influence risk
- Somatic mutations in AD brain (recent finding)
Cell Type Expression
Protein-Protein Interactions
Therapeutic Implications
Spliceosome-Targeting Drugs
Neurodegeneration Applications
Preclinical Strategies
- Antisense oligonucleotides: Correct specific splicing defects
- CRISPR-Cas13: Target mutant transcripts
- Splicing factor enhancers: Increase U2AF1 activity
Signaling Pathways
Clinical Biomarkers
Potential Applications
Research Tools
Model Systems
Genetic and cellular models for studying U2AF1 in neurodegeneration:
Experimental Techniques
Advanced methods for studying U2AF1 function:
Key Experimental Findings
Future Directions
Unresolved Questions
Major knowledge gaps in understanding U2AF1 and neurodegeneration:
Emerging Research Frontiers
- RNA therapeutics: Antisense oligonucleotides for aberrant splice events
- Small molecule modulators: Spliceosome-enhancing compounds
- CRISPR applications: Gene editing to correct mutations
- Epitranscriptomics: RNA modifications affecting splicing
- Single-cell analysis: Cell type-specific splicing patterns
Comparative Pathogenesis
U2AF1 dysfunction appears across multiple neurodegenerative conditions:
Brain Region Vulnerability
Regional susceptibility correlates with U2AF1 expression:
Therapeutic Development Pipeline
Molecular Interaction Network
A comprehensive view of U2AF1's cellular connectivity:
This network illustrates how U2AF1 sits at the intersection of basic splicing, disease mechanisms, and therapeutic intervention.
Clinical Trial Considerations
Trial Design Elements:
Regulatory Pathways:
- FDA: Breakthrough therapy designation possible
- EMA: Adaptive pathway engagement
- Patient registries: Natural history studies ongoing
Economic Considerations
The development of U2AF1-targeted therapies involves significant investment:
Patient Perspectives
Quality of Life Impact:
- Cognitive decline correlates with splicing changes
- Motor symptoms linked to substantia nigra vulnerability
- Therapeutic benefit may slow progression
- Maintain splicing fidelity
- Preserve neuronal function
- Prevent aggregate formation
Conclusion
U2AF1 represents a paradigm for understanding how fundamental cellular processes become dysregulated in neurodegeneration. As the link between splicing fidelity and neuronal health becomes clearer, U2AF1 and its partners offer promising therapeutic targets. Continued research into spliceosome biology promises to reveal additional intervention points for diseases including AD, PD, and related conditions.
See Also
- [RNA splicing mechanisms](/mechanisms/rna-splicing)
- [Spliceosome function](/mechanisms/spliceosome)
- [Alzheimer's Disease](/diseases/alzheimers-disease)
- [Parkinson's Disease](/diseases/parkinsons-disease)
- [Tau protein](/proteins/tau)
- [Alpha-synuclein](/proteins/alpha-synuclein)
- [MAPT gene](/genes/mapt)
References
Pathway Diagram
The following diagram shows the key molecular relationships involving U2AF1 — U2AF Auxiliary Factor 1 discovered through SciDEX knowledge graph analysis:
▸Metadataorigin_type: v1_polymorphic_backfill
| slug | genes-u2af1 |
| kg_node_id | U2AF1 |
| entity_type | gene |
| origin_type | v1_polymorphic_backfill |
| source_table | wiki_pages |
| wiki_page_id | wp-5626f4d1518c |
| __merged_from | {'merged_at': '2026-05-13', 'unprefixed_id': 'genes-u2af1'} |
| _schema_version | 1 |
No provenance edges found
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