Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0316, Norway.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2023 Oct 27;51(19):10668-10680. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkad729.
The Caenorhabditis elegans LIN-41/TRIM71 is a well-studied example of a versatile regulator of mRNA fate, which plays different biological functions involving distinct post-transcriptional mechanisms. In the soma, LIN-41 determines the timing of developmental transitions between larval stages. The somatic LIN-41 recognizes specific mRNAs via LREs (LIN-41 Recognition Elements) and elicits either mRNA decay or translational repression. In the germline, LIN-41 controls the oocyte-to-embryo transition (OET), although the relevant targets and regulatory mechanisms are poorly understood. The germline LIN-41 was suggested to regulate mRNAs indirectly by associating with another RNA-binding protein. We show here that LIN-41 can also regulate germline mRNAs via the LREs. Through a computational-experimental analysis, we identified the germline mRNAs potentially controlled via LREs and validated one target, the cfp-1 mRNA, encoding a conserved chromatin modifier. Our analysis suggests that cfp-1 may be a long-sought target whose LIN-41-mediated regulation during OET facilitates the transcriptional reprogramming underlying the switch from germ- to somatic cell identity.
秀丽隐杆线虫 LIN-41/TRIM71 是一种多功能 mRNA 命运调节剂的典型代表，其在不同的生物学功能中发挥作用，涉及不同的转录后机制。在体细胞中，LIN-41 决定幼虫阶段之间发育转变的时间。LIN-41 通过 LRE（LIN-41 识别元件）识别特定的 mRNA，并引发 mRNA 降解或翻译抑制。在生殖系中，LIN-41 控制卵母细胞到胚胎的转变（OET），尽管相关的靶标和调控机制知之甚少。生殖系 LIN-41 被认为通过与另一种 RNA 结合蛋白结合来间接调节 mRNA。我们在这里表明，LIN-41 也可以通过 LRE 调节生殖系 mRNA。通过计算实验分析，我们鉴定了可能通过 LRE 控制的生殖系 mRNA，并验证了一个靶标 cfp-1 mRNA，该基因编码一种保守的染色质修饰因子。我们的分析表明，cfp-1 可能是一个长期以来备受关注的靶标，其在 OET 期间的 LIN-41 介导的调节有助于从生殖细胞到体细胞身份的转录重编程。
