Mechanism for the initiation of spliceosome disassembly

Precursor-mRNA (pre-mRNA) splicing requires the assembly, remodelling and disassembly of the multi-megadalton ribonucleoprotein complex called the spliceosome 1 . Recent studies have shed light on spliceosome assembly and remodelling for catalysis 2 – 6 , but the mechanism of disassembly remains unclear. Here we report cryo-electron microscopy structures of nematode and human terminal intron lariat spliceosomes along with biochemical and genetic data. Our results uncover how four disassembly factors and the conserved RNA helicase DHX15 initiate spliceosome disassembly. The disassembly factors probe large inner and outer spliceosome surfaces to detect the release of ligated mRNA. Two of these factors, TFIP11 and C19L1, and three general spliceosome subunits, SYF1, SYF2 and SDE2, then dock and activate DHX15 on the catalytic U6 snRNA to initiate disassembly. U6 therefore controls both the start 5 and end of pre-mRNA splicing. Taken together, our results explain the molecular basis of the initiation of canonical spliceosome disassembly and provide a framework to understand general spliceosomal RNA helicase control and the discard of aberrant spliceosomes. Cryo-electron microscopy structures of human and nematode spliceosomes show that the disassembly of this complex is initiated by the licensing of the disassembly helicase to act on the catalytic U6 small nuclear RNA.