Positive Feedback Stimulation of and mRNA Translation by MAPK Cascade During Mouse Oocyte Maturation.

In mammalian species, both the maturation promoting factor (MPF) and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade play critical roles in modulating oocyte meiotic cell-cycle progression. MPF is a critical heterodimer composed of CDK1 and cyclin B1. Activation of MPF and ERK1/2 requires the activation of maternal and mRNAs translation, respectively. The phosphorylation and degradation of CPEB1 that triggered by ERK1/2 is a principal mechanism of activating maternal mRNA translation. However, the interplay of these two key kinases in mediating mammalian translational activation of cytoplasmic mRNAs during oocyte maturation is unclear. We prove evidence that the translational activation of transcripts containing a long 3'-UTR during meiotic resumption works in an ERK1/2-dependent way. A low level of ERK1/2 activation was detected prior to meiotic resumption. Precocious activation of MAPK signaling in germinal vesicle stage oocytes promotes the translation of mRNA and meiotic maturation. Inhibition or precocious activation of CDK1 activity has an appreciable effect on the translation of mRNA, suggesting that both kinases are required for mRNA translational activation. CDK1 triggers phosphorylation, but not degradation, of CPEB1 in oocytes; the degradation of CPEB1 was only triggered by ERK1/2. Moreover, the translational activation of mRNA is regulated by ERK1/2 and cytoplasmic polyadenylation elements too. Taken together, the cooperation and positive feedback activation of ERK1/2 and CDK1 lead to the fine-tuning of mRNA translation and cell-cycle progression during mouse oocyte maturation.