Department of Meiosis, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
Department of Meiosis, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
Trends Cell Biol. 2021 Apr;31(4):254-268. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2020.12.004. Epub 2021 Jan 14.
Phase separation has emerged as a new key principle of intracellular organization. Phase-separated structures play diverse roles in various biological processes and pathogenesis of protein aggregation diseases. Recent work has revealed crucial functions for phase separation during germline development. Phase separation controls the assembly and segregation of germ granules that determine which embryonic cells become germ cells. Phase separation promotes the formation of the Balbiani body, a structure that stores organelles and RNAs during the prolonged prophase arrest of oocytes. Phase separation also facilitates meiotic recombination that prepares homologous chromosomes for segregation, and drives the formation of a liquid-like spindle domain that promotes spindle assembly in mammalian oocytes. We review how phase separation drives these essential steps during germline development.
相分离已成为细胞内组织的一个新的关键原则。相分离结构在各种生物过程和蛋白质聚集疾病的发病机制中发挥着多样化的作用。最近的工作揭示了相分离在生殖细胞发育过程中的关键功能。相分离控制生殖颗粒的组装和分离，决定哪些胚胎细胞成为生殖细胞。相分离促进了 Balbiani 体的形成，Balbiani 体在卵母细胞的长期前期停滞中储存细胞器和 RNA。相分离还促进了减数分裂重组，为同源染色体的分离做准备，并驱动形成类似液体的纺锤体域，促进哺乳动物卵母细胞中纺锤体的组装。我们综述了相分离如何在生殖细胞发育过程中推动这些关键步骤。
