Abstract
Germ granules are cytoplasmic assemblies of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) required for germ cell development and fertility. During the first four cell divisions of the Caenorhabditis elegans zygote, regulated assembly of germ (P) granules leads to their selective segregation to the future germ cell. Here we investigate the role of DLC-1, a hub protein implicated in stabilization and function of diverse protein complexes, in maintaining P granule integrity. We find that DLC-1 directly interacts with several core P granule proteins, predominantly during embryogenesis. The loss of dlc-1 disrupts assembly of P granule components into phase-separated organelles in the embryos, regardless of whether or not DLC-1 directly interacts with these proteins. Finally, we infer that P granule dispersal in the absence of dlc-1 is likely independent of DLC-1’s function as a subunit of the dynein motor and does not result from a loss of cell polarity.
| Original language | English |
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| Article number | ar41 |
| Journal | Molecular Biology of the Cell |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 1 2022 |
Funding
We thank the members of the Voronina laboratory for helpful discussions. All research was performed at the University of Montana. Some nematode strains used in this study were provided by the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (P40OD010440). Confocal microscopy was performed in the University of Montana BioSpectroscopy Core Research Laboratory operating with support from NIH awards P20GM103546 and S10OD021806. This work was supported by the NIH grant GM109053 to E.V.
| Funder number |
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| GM109053, S10OD021806, P40OD010440 |
| P20GM103546 |