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Reversible inhibition of translation by Xenopus oocyte-specific proteins

Nature volume 309, pages 378–380 (1984)Cite this article

Abstract

A characteristic of growing oocytes of all animal species is the synthesis and accumulation of messenger RNA which is destined to be used primarily by the early embryo1,2. The mechanism(s) which regulates the translation of this maternal mRNA remains unknown. However, the inability of the oocyte to translate all of its putative mRNA has been attributed to at least three limitations: (1) The rate of translation is limited by the availability of components of the translational apparatus other than mRNA3,4, (2) the structural organization of the mRNA prevents translation5,6, and (3) proteins associated with the mRNA prevent translation7,8. Several investigators have suggested that proteins associated with maternal mRNA suppress translation in sea urchin eggs7–10, although others claim that such results may be due to experimental artefacts11,12. Oocyte-specific proteins have been identified in association with non-translating poly(A)+ mRNAs from Xenopus laevis oocytes13–16, and we report here that when these proteins are reconstituted with mRNAs in vitro the translation of the mRNAs in vitro is reversibly repressed. The implication is that these proteins are involved in the regulation of translation of stored maternal mRNAs.

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Author notes

  1. Joel D. Richter

    Present address: Cell Biology Group, Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, 01545, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996-0840, USA

    Joel D. Richter

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA

    L. Dennis Smith

Authors
  1. Joel D. Richter
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  2. L. Dennis Smith
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Richter, J., Smith, L. Reversible inhibition of translation by Xenopus oocyte-specific proteins. Nature 309, 378–380 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/309378a0

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