Alternative splicing has emerged as a key contributor to proteome diversity, 
highlighting the importance of understanding its regulation. In recent years it 
became apparent that splicing is predominantly cotranscriptional, allowing for 
crosstalk between these two nuclear processes. We discuss some of the links 
between transcription and splicing, with special emphasis on the role played by 
transcription elongation in the regulation of alternative splicing events and in 
particular the kinetic model of alternative splicing regulation. This article is 
part of a Special Issue entitled: RNA polymerase II Transcript Elongation.