This entry represents Gem-associated protein 2 (GEMIN2, also known as SIP1). GEMIN2 is part of the SMN complex, which plays an essential role in spliceosomal snRNP assembly in the cytoplasm and is required for pre-mRNA splicing in the nucleus [].
This entry includes eukaryotic survival motor neuron (SMN) and survival of motor neuron-related-splicing factor 30 (SPF30) proteins. The Survival of Motor Neurons (SMN) protein, the product of the spinal muscular atrophy-determining gene, is part of a large macromolecular complex (SMN complex) that functions in the assembly of spliceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs). The SMN complex functions as a specificity factor essential for the efficient assembly of Sm proteins on U snRNAs and likely protects cells from illicit, and potentially deleterious, non-specific binding of Sm proteins to RNAs [, ]. SMN has three highly conserved domains: a short N-terminal segment responsible for binding with high affinity to Gemin2 (a protein involved in snRNP assembly), therefore, called Gemin2-binding domain (G2-BD), a central Tudor domain and a C-terminal YG-box domain. This domain covers the Gemin2-binding domain (G2-BD) and the Tudor domain of SMN and SPF30, in which an aromatic cage mediates symmetric dimethylarginine modifications recognition by electrostatic stabilization through cation-pi interactions in a number of proteins involved in RNA processing [, , ].
