The Exon Junction Complex Undergoes a Compositional Switch that Alters mRNP Structure and Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay Activity

The exon junction complex (EJC) deposited upstream of mRNA exon junctions shapes structure, composition, and fate of spliced mRNA ribonucleoprotein particles (mRNPs). To achieve this, the EJC core nucleates assembly of a dynamic shell of peripheral proteins that function in diverse post-transcriptional processes. To illuminate consequences of EJC composition change, we purified EJCs from human cells via peripheral proteins RNPS1 and CASC3. We...