RNA recognition motif 2 (RRM2) found in Drosophila sex-lethal (SXL) and similar proteins
This subfamily corresponds to the RRM2 of the sex-lethal protein (SXL) which governs sexual differentiation and X chromosome dosage compensation in Drosophila melanogaster. It induces female-specific alternative splicing of the transformer (tra) pre-mRNA by binding to the tra uridine-rich polypyrimidine tract at the non-sex-specific 3' splice site during the sex-determination process. SXL binds also to its own pre-mRNA and promotes female-specific alternative splicing. SXL contains an N-terminal Gly/Asn-rich domain that may be responsible for the protein-protein interaction, and tandem RNA recognition motifs (RRMs), also termed RBDs (RNA binding domains) or RNPs (ribonucleoprotein domains), that show high preference to bind single-stranded, uridine-rich target RNA transcripts.