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A role for dynein in the inhibition of germ cell proliferative fate.

ABSTRACT: During normal development as well as in diseased states such as cancer, extracellular "niches" often provide cues to proximal cells and activate intracellular pathways. Activation of such signaling pathways in turn instructs cellular proliferation and differentiation. In the Caenorhabditis elegans gonad, GLP-1/Notch signaling instructs germ line stem cells to self-renew through mitotic cell division. As germ cells progressively move out of the niche, they differentiate by entering meiosis and eventually form gametes. In this model system, we uncovered an unexpected role for the dynein motor complex in promoting normal differentiation of proliferating germ cells. We demonstrate that dynein light chain 1 (DLC-1) and its partner, dynein heavy chain 1, inhibit the proliferative cell fate, in part through regulation of METT-10, a conserved putative methyltransferase. We show that DLC-1 physically interacts with METT-10 and promotes both its overall levels and nuclear accumulation. Our results add a new dimension to the processes controlled by the dynein motor complex, demonstrating that dynein can act as an antiproliferative factor.

SUBMITTER: Dorsett M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2772574 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A role for dynein in the inhibition of germ cell proliferative fate.

Dorsett Maia M Schedl Tim T

Molecular and cellular biology 20090914 22

During normal development as well as in diseased states such as cancer, extracellular "niches" often provide cues to proximal cells and activate intracellular pathways. Activation of such signaling pathways in turn instructs cellular proliferation and differentiation. In the Caenorhabditis elegans gonad, GLP-1/Notch signaling instructs germ line stem cells to self-renew through mitotic cell division. As germ cells progressively move out of the niche, they differentiate by entering meiosis and ev ...[more]

PMID: 19752194

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Project description:Background: Potentially novel regulators of early human germline development have been identified recently, including SOX15 and SOX17, both of which show specific expression in human primordial germ cells. SOX17 is now known to be a critical specifier of human germ cell identity. There have been suggestions, as yet without evidence, that SOX15 might also play a prominent role. The early human germline is inaccessible for direct study, but an in vitro model of human primordial germ cell-like cell (hPGCLC) specification from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) has been developed. This enables mechanistic study of human germ cell specification using genetic tools to manipulate the levels of SOX15 and SOX17 proteins to explore their roles in hPGCLC specification. Methods: SOX15 and SOX17 proteins were depleted during hPGCLC specification from hESCs using the auxin-inducible degron system, combined with a fluorescent reporter for tracking protein levels. Additionally, SOX15 protein was overexpressed using the ProteoTuner system. Protein-level expression changes were confirmed by immunofluorescence. The impact on hPGCLC specification efficiency was determined by flow cytometry at various time points. qPCR experiments were performed to determine some transcriptional effects of SOX15 perturbations. Results: We observed specific SOX15 expression in hPGCLCs by using immunofluorescence and flow cytometry analysis. Depletion of SOX15 had no significant effect on hPGCLC specification efficiency on day 4 after induction, but there was a significant and progressive decrease in hPGCLCs on days 6 and 8. By contrast, depletion of SOX17 completely abrogated hPGCLC specification. Furthermore, SOX15 overexpression resulted in a significant increase in hPGCLC fraction on day 8. qPCR analysis revealed a possible role for the germ cell and pluripotency regulator PRDM14 in compensating for changes to SOX15 protein levels. Conclusions: SOX17 is essential for hPGCLC specification, yet SOX15 is dispensable. However, SOX15 may have a role in maintaining germ cell identity.

Dataset Information

A role for dynein in the inhibition of germ cell proliferative fate.

Publications

A role for dynein in the inhibition of germ cell proliferative fate.

Similar Datasets

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