title: Oncogenic ras protein induces meiotic maturation of amphibian oocytes in the presence of protein synthesis inhibitors.
abstract: Microinjection of the activated ras oncogenic protein can induce the meiotic maturation of Xenopus laevis oocytes, a process that can also be triggered by progesterone or high concentrations of insulin. Cycloheximide and puromycin, well-known inhibitors of protein synthesis, block the maturation process induced by progesterone and insulin but do not affect the maturation caused by H-raslys12 protein microinjection. Theophylline, an inhibitor of cAMP phosphodiesterase that also affects oocyte protein synthesis, does cause a partial inhibition of ras protein-induced maturation. These findings indicate that ras protein acts on the oocyte maturation process at a point that is downstream of the protein synthesis requirement, a characteristic shared with the maturation promoting factor, an activity that appears in oocytes and mitotic cells at the onset of cell division.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago.
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Allende
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Hinrichs
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Allende
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003513:Cycloheximide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D007328:Insulin / Q000494:pharmacology; D008540:Meiosis; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D011374:Progesterone / Q000494:pharmacology; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); D011691:Puromycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D011691:Puromycin; D011374:Progesterone; D003513:Cycloheximide; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras)