The oocytes of most sexually reproducing animals arrest in diplotene or diakinesis of meiotic prophase I. Human oocytes enter meiosis in the embryo and maintain prophase arrest for decades. Oocyte growth occurs during the period of prophase I arrest, which enables them to acquire competence to complete meiosis and to produce healthy progeny. Hormonal signaling and soma-germline interactions regulate meiotic resumption (oocyte meiotic maturation). Meiotic maturation is defined by the transition to metaphase I, and its hallmarks are nuclear envelope breakdown, rearrangement of the cortical cytoskeleton, and meiotic spindle assembly. A failure of oocytes to undergo meiotic maturation results in sterility, whereas improper execution of the meiotic divisions causes aneuploidy. The timing of meiotic maturation is crucial. If oocytes undergo meiotic maturation prematurely, their capacity to produce healthy offspring is diminished. The molecular mechanisms that control and coordinate oocyte growth and meiotic maturation are incompletely understood. This application seeks to fill this knowledge gap by studying conserved translational regulators that coordinate and control the meiotic maturation decision and the growth process. We address mechanistic questions about how intercellular signaling and translational regulation control meiotic resumption. Defects in oogenesis represent a major cause of human birth defects, miscarriage and infertility. Ethical and technical issues limit the mechanistic depth of human studies. Oocyte meiotic maturation is an ancient reproductive process and many of its defining features are deeply conserved in evolution. Model systems are thus indispensable to the analysis of female meiosis. Because the full-grown oocytes of most animals are transcriptionally quiescent, translational regulation is a major control point. Our understanding of how signaling controls translation to regulate oocyte growth and meiotic maturation is incomplete. We developed C. elegans as a genetic model for studying the control of meiotic maturation by hormonal signaling. Our work shows that C. elegans and mammals share remarkable similarities in the hormonal control of meiotic maturation.
Our Aims are 1) Elucidate how translational regulators control oocyte growth and meiotic maturation; 2) Define how the SACY-1 DEAD-box RNA helicase regulates oocyte meiotic maturation; and 3) Determine how soma-germline gap junctions regulate meiotic maturation. The proposed experiments will provide mechanistic insights into how intercellular signaling and translational regulation control key cellular events of oocyte meiotic maturation. This basic research in a genetic model system will generate fundamental knowledge relevant for understanding human reproduction.

Public Health Relevance

Defects in oocyte growth and the completion of meiosis (meiotic maturation) represent a major cause of human birth defects, miscarriage and infertility. Because ethical and technical issues limit the mechanistic depth of data obtained from human studies, model systems are invaluable for understanding the cellular events of female meiosis and their control. This application will delineate essential conserved mechanisms by which intercellular signaling and translational regulation coordinate and control oocyte growth and meiotic maturation in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM057173-17
Application #
9420617
Study Section
Cellular, Molecular and Integrative Reproduction Study Section (CMIR)
Program Officer
Salazar, Desiree Lynn
Project Start
1998-05-01
Project End
2019-02-28
Budget Start
2018-03-01
Budget End
2019-02-28
Support Year
17
Fiscal Year
2018
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Department
Genetics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
555917996
City
Minneapolis
State
MN
Country
United States
Zip Code
55455
Spike, Caroline A; Huelgas-Morales, Gabriela; Tsukamoto, Tatsuya et al. (2018) Multiple Mechanisms Inactivate the LIN-41 RNA-Binding Protein To Ensure a Robust Oocyte-to-Embryo Transition in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 210:1011-1037
Huelgas Morales, Gabriela; Greenstein, David (2018) C. elegans germline cell death, live! PLoS Genet 14:e1007425
Huelgas-Morales, Gabriela; Greenstein, David (2018) Control of oocyte meiotic maturation in C. elegans. Semin Cell Dev Biol 84:90-99
Tsukamoto, Tatsuya; Gearhart, Micah D; Spike, Caroline A et al. (2017) LIN-41 and OMA Ribonucleoprotein Complexes Mediate a Translational Repression-to-Activation Switch Controlling Oocyte Meiotic Maturation and the Oocyte-to-Embryo Transition in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 206:2007-2039
Huelgas-Morales, Gabriela; Silva-GarcĂ­a, Carlos Giovanni; Salinas, Laura S et al. (2016) The Stress Granule RNA-Binding Protein TIAR-1 Protects Female Germ Cells from Heat Shock in Caenorhabditis elegans. G3 (Bethesda) 6:1031-47
Spike, Caroline A; Coetzee, Donna; Eichten, Carly et al. (2014) The TRIM-NHL protein LIN-41 and the OMA RNA-binding proteins antagonistically control the prophase-to-metaphase transition and growth of Caenorhabditis elegans oocytes. Genetics 198:1535-58
Starich, Todd A; Hall, David H; Greenstein, David (2014) Two classes of gap junction channels mediate soma-germline interactions essential for germline proliferation and gametogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 198:1127-53
Spike, Caroline A; Coetzee, Donna; Nishi, Yuichi et al. (2014) Translational control of the oogenic program by components of OMA ribonucleoprotein particles in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 198:1513-33
Kim, Seongseop; Spike, Caroline; Greenstein, David (2013) Control of oocyte growth and meiotic maturation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Adv Exp Med Biol 757:277-320
Oldenbroek, Marieke; Robertson, Scott M; Guven-Ozkan, Tugba et al. (2013) Regulation of maternal Wnt mRNA translation in C. elegans embryos. Development 140:4614-23

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