This thesis is constituted of two parts. In the first part of this thesis, I studied the structural phenomena of SR protein phosphorylation. The serine/arginine-rich (SR) protein family plays multiple functions in the whole process of RNA metabolism such as transcription, RNA splicing, RNA exporting, translation, and nonsense decay of RNA. SR proteins contain at least one essential arginine/serine-rich (RS) domain, from which the protein name is derived. The RS domain mediates both

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... in and protein-RNA interactions. A number of studies have shown that the serine residues within the RS domains of SR proteins are extensively phosphorylated. The majority of phosphorylation occurs on serine residues in the RS domain. This phosphorylation appears to influence Lyophylisation