title: RNA recognition by the Caenorhabditis elegans oocyte maturation determinant OMA-1.
abstract: Maternally supplied mRNAs encode proteins that pattern early embryos in many species. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a suite of RNA-binding proteins regulates expression of maternal mRNAs during oogenesis, the oocyte to embryo transition, and early embryogenesis. To understand how these RNA-binding proteins contribute to development, it is necessary to determine how they select specific mRNA targets for regulation. OMA-1 and OMA-2 are redundant proteins required for oocyte maturation--an essential part of meiosis that prepares oocytes for fertilization. Both proteins have CCCH type tandem zinc finger RNA-binding domains. Here, we define the RNA binding specificity of OMA-1 and demonstrate that OMA-1/2 are required to repress the expression of a glp-1 3'-UTR reporter in developing oocytes. OMA-1 binds with high affinity to a conserved region of the glp-1 3'-UTR previously shown to interact with POS-1 and GLD-1, RNA-binding proteins required for glp-1 reporter repression in the posterior of fertilized embryos. Our results reveal that OMA-1 is a sequence-specific RNA-binding protein required to repress expression of maternal transcripts during oogenesis and suggest that interplay between OMA-1 and other factors for overlapping binding sites helps to coordinate the transition from oocyte to embryo.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605.
authors.forename: Ebru
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kaymak
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605. Electronic address: Sean.Ryder@umassmed.edu.
authors.forename: Sean P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Ryder
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D009866:Oogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D018510:RNA, Helminth / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D016335:Zinc Fingers
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; C094448:GLD-1 protein, C elegans; C440205:OMA-1 protein, C elegans; C117258:POS-1 protein, C elegans; D018510:RNA, Helminth; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; C473076:oma-2 protein, C elegans
keywords: C. elegans; Caenorhabditis elegans; OMA-1; Post-transcriptional Regulation; RNA; RNA-Protein Interaction; RNA-binding Protein; RNA-binding Proteins; glp-1