Work

Asymmetric Segregation of PIE-1 in C. elegans Is Mediated by Two Complementary Mechanisms that Act through Separate PIE-1 Protein Domains

Year: 2000

Type: article

Abstract: The CCCH finger protein PIE-1 is a regulator of germ cell fate that segregates with the germ lineage in early embryos. At each asymmetric division, PIE-1 is inherited preferentially by the germline daughter and is excluded from the somatic daughter. We show that this asymmetry is regulated at the protein level by two complementary mechanisms. The first acts before cell division to enrich PIE-1 in the cytoplasm destined for the germline daughter. The second acts after cell division to eliminate any PIE-1 left in the somatic daughter. The latter mechanism depends on PIE-1's first CCCH finger (ZF1), which targets PIE-1 for degradation in somatic blastomeres. ZF1s in two other germline proteins, POS-1 and MEX-1, are also degraded in somatic blastomeres, suggesting that localized degradation also acts on these proteins to exclude them from somatic lineages.

Source: Molecular Cell

DOI: 10.1016/s1097-2765(00)00043-5

Authors: Kimberly J. Reese, Melanie A. Dunn, James A. Waddle, Geraldine Seydoux

Institutions: Johns Hopkins University, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Language: English

Topic: Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $10,400

Funder: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development