Fig. 7. Nuage is implicated in the miRNA pathway. Vasa (V, green circle), a pivotal organizer of nuage (large gray circle) is required to recruit (black arrows) both Aubergine (A, blue circle) and Maelstrom (M, red circle) into particles (large gray circle). In nurse cells, sponge bodies (orange circle) are ultrastructurally interfaced with nuage particles, and contain RNPs required for proper translation and localization of mRNAs. MicroRNA maturation or assembly is suggested (pink shading) in the nuage/sponge body interface by the requirement for both Spn-E (gray circle) and Aubergine for recruitment of Maelstrom to nuage, as well as the ectopic localization of Dicer (pink circle) and Argonaute2 (not shown) to the perinuclear zone. Either microRNA processing (bottom) or recruitment of miRNA-directed specificity factors (small darker orange circle in sponge body) into RNPs could occur in the vicinity of nuage.