Pins homolog LGN regulates meiotic spindle organization in mouse oocytes  

作　　者：Xinzheng Guo Shaorong Gao 

机构地区：[1]College of Life Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China [2]National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing 102206,China

出　　处：《Cell Research》2009年第7期838-848,共11页细胞研究（英文版）

摘　　要：Mouse oocytes undergo polarization during meiotic maturation, and this polarization is essential for asymmetric cell divisions that maximize retention of maternal components required for early development. Without conventional centrosomes, the meiotic spindle has less focused poles and is barrel-shaped. The migration of meiotic spindles to the cortex is accompanied by a local reorganization and polarization of the cortex. LGN is a conserved protein involved in cell polarity and regulation of spindle organization. In the present study, we characterized the localization dynamics of LGN during mouse oocyte maturation and analyzed the effects of LGN upregulation and downregulation on meiotic spindle organization. At the germinal vesicle stage, LGN is distributed both cytoplasmically and at the cortex. During maturation, LGN localizes to the meiotic spindle apparatus and cortical LGN becomes less concentrated at the actin cap region. Excessive LGN induces meiotic spindle organization defects by elongating the spindle and enhancing pole focusing, whereas depletion of LGN by RNA interference results in meiotic spindle deformation and chromosome misalignment. Furthermore, the N-terminus of LGN has the ability of full-length LGN to regulate spindle organization, whereas the C-terminus of LGN controls cortical localization and polarization. Our results reveal that LGN is cortically polarized in mouse oocytes and is critical for meiotic spindle organization.

关 键 词：LGN OOCYTE cortex polarization meiotic spindle organization Γ-TUBULIN 

分 类 号：Q954.432[生物学—动物学] Q253