title: DND protein functions as a translation repressor during zebrafish embryogenesis.
abstract: Germline and somatic cell distinction is regulated through a combination of microRNA and germ cell-specific RNA-binding proteins in zebrafish. An RNA-binding protein, DND, has been reported to relieve the miR-430-mediated repression of some germ plasm mRNAs such as nanos3 and tdrd7 in primordial germ cells (PGCs). Here, we showed that miR-430-mediated repression is not counteracted by the overexpression of DND protein in somatic cells. Using a λN-box B tethering assay in the embryo, we found that tethering of DND to reporter mRNA results in translation repression without affecting mRNA stability. Translation repression by DND was not dependent on another germline-specific translation repressor, Nanos3, in zebrafish embryos. Moreover, our data suggested that DND represses translation of nanog and dnd mRNAs, whereas an RNA-binding protein DAZ-like (DAZL) promotes dnd mRNA translation. Thus, our study showed that DND protein functions as a translation repressor of specific mRNAs to control PGC development in zebrafish.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Manami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan; Organization for Advanced and Integrated Research, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Saori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tani-Matsuhana
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohkawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan. Electronic address: kunio@kobe-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inoue
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000071317:Nanog Homeobox Protein / Q000235:genetics; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000071317:Nanog Homeobox Protein; C572119:Nanog protein, zebrafish; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; C539707:dnd1 protein, zebrafish
keywords: Dead-end (DND); Primordial germ cell (PGC); Translation repression; Zebrafish