title: A splicer that represses (translation).
abstract: Regulated translation and subcellular localization of maternal mRNAs underlies establishment of the antero-posterior axis in the Drosophila oocyte. In this issue of Genes & Development, Besse et al. (pp. 195-207) show that a molecule better known as a regulator of alternative splicing in the nucleus, polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB), is required for repression of oskar mRNA in the cytoplasm. Their work suggests that PTB need not engage oskar mRNA in the nucleus for efficient repression, providing an important counterexample to the increasingly popular idea that cytoplasmic regulation initiates in the nucleus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA. rwharton@duke.edu
authors.forename: Robin P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Wharton
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D038941:Polypyrimidine Tract-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D023121:RNA, Messenger, Stored / Q000378:metabolism; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D023121:RNA, Messenger, Stored; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins; C026452:messenger ribonucleoprotein; C091675:osk protein, Drosophila; D038941:Polypyrimidine Tract-Binding Protein