title: Caenorhabditis elegans p97/CDC-48 is crucial for progression of meiosis I.
abstract: p97/VCP/Cdc48p belongs to the AAA (ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities) family and has been indicated to be required for mitotic M-phase. We previously reported that simultaneous depletion of two p97 homologues, CDC-48.1 and CDC-48.2, in Caenorhabditis elegans caused the complete embryonic lethality, and that a large number of vacuole-like structures were observed in the dead embryos. However, cellular functions of p97 in embryogenesis have not been revealed. In this study, we analyzed effects of p97 depletion on meiotic progression. Simultaneous depletion of both p97 resulted in the formation of aberrant multinucleate cells and sometimes ectopic furrows in embryos. Importantly, meiotic chromosomes were not divided at meiotic metaphase I in p97-depleted embryos, although spindle formation and disassembly occurred. Furthermore, we found that chromosome condensation was significantly reduced in p97-depleted oocytes. Taken these results altogether, we propose that C. elegans p97 plays an important role in the progression of meiosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics, Kumamoto University, 2-2-1 Honjo, Kumamoto 860-0811, Japan.
authors.forename: Yohei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sasagawa
authors.forename: Kunitoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishikori
authors.forename: Teru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogura
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002453:Cell Cycle; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008540:Meiosis; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D034622:RNA Interference; D000074405:Valosin Containing Protein
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; D000074405:Valosin Containing Protein