Regulation of unequal cell division in animal oocyte meiosis

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During meiotic maturation of animal oocytes, two successive divisions occur without an intermediate phase of DNA replication, so that haploid gametes are produced. Moreover, these two divisions are extremely asymmetric, to ensure that most of the maternal stores are retained within the oocyte. This leads to the formation of daughter cells with different sizes : the large oocyte and the small polar bodies. It is not known what signal couples the spindle pole positioning to polar body formation. We have found that Mos-MAPK-Rsk kinase pathway is required for the normal polarbody extrusion. So, we approached the question by analyzing the proteins that are phosphorylated specifically by the kinase pathway during the polarbody extrusion. We have identified some candidates for the regulators for the spindle pole positioning. Now, we are checking each candidate play a role in the asymmetric cell division.