{"id":29479,"date":"2024-07-10T14:08:07","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T18:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biology.mit.edu\/?p=29479"},"modified":"2024-07-10T14:10:56","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T18:10:56","slug":"vaults-within-germ-cells-offer-more-than-safekeeping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biology.mit.edu\/vaults-within-germ-cells-offer-more-than-safekeeping\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cVaults\u201d within germ cells offer more than safekeeping"},"content":{"rendered":"
Maternal messenger RNAs (mRNAs), located within the cytoplasm of an immature egg, are crucial for jump starting development. Following fertilization, these mRNAs are passed onto the zygote, the first newly formed cell. Having been read from the maternal DNA genetic code, they serve as the sole templates for protein production essential for early development until the zygote\u2019s own genes become active and take over.<\/p>\n
Many maternal mRNAs are stored in ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules, which are a type of membrane-less compartments, or condensates, within eggs and developing embryos. These granules are believed to preserve the mRNA in a \u201cpaused\u201d state until the encoded proteins are needed for specific developmental processes upon fertilization of the egg cell. Then, certain developmental signals kick in to instruct the RNP granules to release the stored mRNA so the instructions can be translated into a functional protein.<\/p>\n
One type of RNP granules called germ granules is found in embryo germplasm, a cytoplasmic region that gives rise to germ cells, which become the eggs or sperms of adult flies. Whitehead Institute Director Ruth Lehmann studies how germ cells form and transmit their genetic information across generations. Her lab is particularly interested in understanding how germ granules in embryos localize and regulate maternal mRNAs.<\/p>\n