RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Spindlin, a major maternal transcript expressed in the mouse during the transition from oocyte to embryo
JF Development
JO Development
FD The Company of Biologists Limited
SP 493
OP 503
VO 124
IS 2
A1 Oh, B.
A1 Hwang, S.Y.
A1 Solter, D.
A1 Knowles, B.B.
YR 1997
UL http://dev.biologists.org/content/124/2/493.abstract
AB Timely translation of maternal transcripts and post-translational modification of their gene products control the initial development of preimplantation-stage embryos. We have isolated and characterized a gene encoding a stage-specific embryonic protein. This novel gene, spindlin (Spin), is an abundant maternal transcript present in the unfertilized egg and 2-cell, but not 8-cell, stage embryo. Spin exhibits high homology to a multicopy gene, Y-linked spermiogenesis-specific transcript (Ssty), and together they form a new gene family expressed during gametogenesis. We find that spindlin associates with the meiotic spindle and is modified by phosphorylation in a cell-cycle-dependent fashion. Furthermore, it comigrates with the previously described 30x10(3) Mr metaphase complex which is posttranslationally modified during the first mitotic cell cycle. Our data suggest that spindlin plays a role in cell-cycle regulation during the transition from gamete to embryo.