{"doi":"10.1101/2020.11.13.382168","title":"The Nab2 RNA binding protein promotes sex-specific splicing of <i>Sex lethal</i> in <i>Drosophila</i> neuronal tissue","abstract":"Abstract The Drosophila polyadenosine RNA binding protein Nab2, which is orthologous to a human protein lost in a form of inherited intellectual disability, controls axon projection, locomotion, and memory. Here we define an unexpectedly specific role for Nab2 in regulating splicing of ∼150 exons/introns in the head transcriptome and link the most prominent of these, female retention of a male-specific exon in the sex determination factor Sex-lethal ( Sxl ), to a role in m 6 A-dependent mRNA splicing. Genetic evidence indicates that aberrant Sxl splicing underlies multiple phenotypes in Nab2 mutant females. At a molecular level, Nab2 associates with Sxl pre-mRNA and ensures proper female-specific splicing by preventing m 6 A hypermethylation by Mettl3 methyltransferase. Consistent with these results, reducing Mettl3 expression rescues developmental, behavioral and neuroanatomical phenotypes in Nab2 mutants. Overall these data identify Nab2 as a required regulator of m 6 A-regulated Sxl splicing and imply a broader link between Nab2 and Mettl3-regulated brain RNAs.","journal":"bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)","year":2020,"id":123147,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":4,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9541,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2020-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":454992,"name":"J. Christopher Rounds","orcid":"0000-0001-5287-8454","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":494949,"name":"Brianna E Brown","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":496957,"name":"Carly L. Lancaster","orcid":"0000-0003-1195-9535","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":430727,"name":"Sara W. Leung","orcid":"0000-0001-5090-7995","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":565796,"name":"Ayan Banerjee","orcid":"0000-0001-8350-851X","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":494233,"name":"Derrick J. Morton","orcid":"0000-0001-6070-0904","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":566529,"name":"Rick S. Bienkowski","orcid":null,"position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":295692,"name":"Isaac Kremsky","orcid":"0000-0003-1160-1373","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":471769,"name":"Milo B. Fasken","orcid":"0000-0003-4317-7909","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":430731,"name":"Anita H. Corbett","orcid":"0000-0002-0461-6895","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":443763,"name":"Kenneth H. Moberg","orcid":"0000-0002-9820-5543","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":494234,"name":"Binta Jalloh","orcid":"0000-0001-6475-3149","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":66,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:14:59.547352Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}