RNA processing protein complexes and uses thereof

A purified complex, wherein the complex comprises:

• (i) Sen15 or a protein encoded by a nucleic acid that hybridizes to the Sen15 encoding nucleic acid (ACCESSION NO.:
• NM—052965) or its complement under high stringency conditions;
• and
• (ii) Sen34 (ACCESSION NO.:
• NP—076980), or a protein encoded by a nucleic acid that hybridizes to the Sen34 encoding nucleic acid (ACCESSION NO.:
• NM—024075) or its complement under high stringency conditions.

An antibody or a fragment thereof that immunospecifically binds to Sen2 (Accession No.:

• NP—079541), Sen15 (Accession No.:
• NP—443197), Sen34 (Accession No.:
• NP—076980) or Sen54 (Accession No.:
• XP—208944).

A purified nucleic acid, wherein the nucleic acid (a) encodes a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO.:

• 12;
• (b) encodes a protein comprising the amino acid of SEQ ID NO:
• 11;
• (c) comprises a contiguous open reading frame which encodes a polypeptide comprising amino acid 280 to amino acid 330 of SEQ ID NO:
• 12;
• or (d) hybridizes over its full length to the complement of a nucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO:
• 11 under high stringency conditions, wherein said high 20 stringency conditions comprise hybridization in a buffer consisting of 6×SSC, 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH=7.5), 1 mM EDTA, 0.02% PVP, 0.02% Ficoll, 0.02% BSA and 100 μg/ml denatured salmon sperm DNA, for 48 hours at 65° C., washing in a buffer consisting of 2×SSC, 0.01% PVP, 0.01% Ficoll and 0.01% BSA, for 45 minutes at 37° C., and washing in a buffer consisting of 0.1×SSC, for 45 minutes at 50° C.

A method of identifying a compound that modulates the formation of a complex, wherein the method comprises the following steps:

• (a) incubating
• (i) Sen2 (ACCESSION NO.:
• NP—079541), Sen2deltaEx8 (SEQ ID NO:
• 2), or a protein encoded by a nucleic acid that hybridizes to the Sen2 encoding nucleic acid (ACCESSION NO.:
• NM—025265) or the Sen2deltaEx8 encoding nucleic acid (SEQ ID NO.:1) or its complement under high stringency conditions;
• (ii) Sen15 or a protein encoded by a nucleic acid that hybridizes to the Sen15 encoding nucleic acid (ACCESSION NO.:
• NM—052965) or its complement under high stringency conditions;
• (iii) Sen34 (ACCESSION NO.:
• NP—076980), or a protein encoded by a nucleic acid that hybridizes to the Sen34 encoding nucleic acid (ACCESSION NO.:
• NM—024075) or its complement under high stringency conditions;
• and
• (iv) Sen54 (ACCESSION NO.:
• XP—208944), or a protein encoded by a nucleic acid that hybridizes to the Sen54 encoding nucleic acid (ACCESSION NO.:
• XM—208944) or its complement under high stringency conditions;
• in the presence of a compound under conditions conducive to formation of a complex comprising the proteins;
• and
• (b) determining the amount of the complex, wherein a difference in the amount of the complex determined in step (b) relative to the amount of the complex determined in the absence of the compound indicates that the compound modulates the formation of the complex.