TRANSLATIONAL REGULATION DURING XENOPUS OOCYTE DEVELOPMENT

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 这项研究的目的是增加我们对真核细胞周期的了解。特别是，这项工作将调查这一非常复杂的生物过程是如何受到调控的。彻底了解控制细胞周期的机制对于理解癌细胞如何失去细胞分裂控制是必要的。非洲爪蛙卵母细胞发育是研究细胞周期的一个重要模型系统。这项拟议的研究调查了卵母细胞mRNAs的翻译调控是如何实现的。在卵母细胞中，母体mRNAs编码对细胞周期调节至关重要的蛋白质。已经鉴定了一种调节卵母细胞mRNA翻译的蛋白质，但大量证据表明，Wee1 mRNA与一个新的蛋白质结合在一个被称为翻译控制序列(TCS)的位置，并且这种结合对翻译控制是重要的。Wee1mRNA编码一种蛋白质，它是细胞周期控制的关键调控元件之一，特别是细胞分裂早期的事件。本研究的主要目的包括以下几个方面：(1)通过酵母三杂交筛选获得天花粉蛋白结合蛋白(TCSB)；(2)对TCSB的RNA和蛋白质的表达进行鉴定，并了解该蛋白质参与Wee1翻译的细节。(3)将识别和分析与TCSB相互作用并有助于实现翻译控制的其他蛋白质。(4)将发现更多受TCSB结合调控的RNA。这些目标的成功完成将使人们对非洲爪哇以及包括人类在内的其他生物的细胞周期控制有更深入的了解。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The goal of this research is to add to our understanding of the eukaryotic cell cycle. In particular, this work will investigate how this very complicated biological process is regulated. Thorough knowledge of the mechanisms controlling the cell cycle is necessary for building an understanding of how cell division control is lost in cancer cells. An important model system for studying the cell cycle is oocyte development in the frog, Xenopus laevis. The proposed research investigates how translational regulation of oocyte mRNAs is achieved. In oocytes, maternal mRNAs code for proteins critical to cell cycle regulation. One protein that regulates oocyte mRNA translation has been characterized, but substantial evidence indicates that the Wee1 mRNA is bound by a novel protein at a site termed the translational control sequence (TCS), and that this binding is important for translational control. The Wee1 mRNA encodes a protein that is one of the key regulatory elements of cell cycle control, in particular of events early in the process of cell division. The proposed research includes the following specific aims that will enhance our knowledge of protein:RNA interactions in translational regulation: (1) The TCS-binding protein (TCSB) will be obtained through the yeast three-hybrid screening protocol (2) The expression of TCSB RNA and protein will be characterized, and details about the protein?s involvement in Wee1 translation will be acquired. (3) Other proteins that interact with TCSB and help make translational control possible will be identified and analyzed. (4) Additional RNAs that are regulated by TCSB binding will be discovered. Successful completion of these goals will lead to a more in-depth perception of cell cycle control in Xenopus, and also in other organisms including humans.