Developmental Biology Unit, Institute Biology I, Faculty of Biology, Albert-Ludwigs-University, Freiburg, Germany.
Science. 2013 Aug 30;341(6149):1005-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1242527. Epub 2013 Aug 15.
The development of multicellular animals is initially controlled by maternal gene products deposited in the oocyte. During the maternal-to-zygotic transition, transcription of zygotic genes commences, and developmental control starts to be regulated by zygotic gene products. In Drosophila, the transcription factor Zelda specifically binds to promoters of the earliest zygotic genes and primes them for activation. It is unknown whether a similar regulation exists in other animals. We found that zebrafish Pou5f1, a homolog of the mammalian pluripotency transcription factor Oct4, occupies SOX-POU binding sites before the onset of zygotic transcription and activates the earliest zygotic genes. Our data position Pou5f1 and SOX-POU sites at the center of the zygotic gene activation network of vertebrates and provide a link between zygotic gene activation and pluripotency control.
多细胞动物的发育最初由卵母细胞中储存的母体基因产物控制。在母体向合子的过渡过程中，合子基因的转录开始，发育控制开始由合子基因产物调节。在果蝇中，转录因子 Zelda 特异性结合到最早的合子基因的启动子上，并为其激活做好准备。在其他动物中是否存在类似的调节尚不清楚。我们发现，斑马鱼 Pou5f1 是哺乳动物多能性转录因子 Oct4 的同源物，在合子转录开始之前占据 SOX-POU 结合位点，并激活最早的合子基因。我们的数据将 Pou5f1 和 SOX-POU 位点置于脊椎动物合子基因激活网络的中心，为合子基因激活和多能性控制之间建立了联系。
