Otefin, a nuclear membrane protein, determines the fate of germline stem cells in Drosophila via interaction with Smad complexes

Xiaoyong Jiang; Laixin Xia; Dongsheng Chen; Yingyue Yang; Haidong Huang; Lele Yang; Qiudong Zhao; Lijun Shen; Jun Wang; Dahua Chen

doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2008.02.018

Otefin, a nuclear membrane protein, determines the fate of germline stem cells in Drosophila via interaction with Smad complexes

Dev Cell. 2008 Apr;14(4):494-506. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2008.02.018.

Authors

Xiaoyong Jiang¹, Laixin Xia, Dongsheng Chen, Yingyue Yang, Haidong Huang, Lele Yang, Qiudong Zhao, Lijun Shen, Jun Wang, Dahua Chen

Affiliation

¹ State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Biotechnology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 25 Beisihuanxi Road, Haidian, Beijing, 100080, China.

PMID: 18410727
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2008.02.018

Abstract

Nuclear envelope proteins play important roles in chromatin organization, gene regulation, and signal transduction; however, the physiological role of these proteins remains elusive. We found that otefin (ote), which encodes a nuclear lamin-binding protein [corrected], is essential for germline stem cell (GSC) maintenance. We show that Ote, as an intrinsic factor, is both necessary and sufficient to regulate GSC fate. Furthermore, we demonstrate that ote is required for the Dpp/BMP signaling pathway to silence bam transcription. By structure-function analysis, we demonstrate that the nuclear membrane localization of Ote is essential for its role in GSC maintenance. Finally, we show that Ote physically interacts with Medea/Smad4 at the bam silencer element to regulate GSC fate. Thus, we demonstrate that specific nuclear membrane components mediate signal-dependent transcriptional effects to control stem cell behavior.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / genetics
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / metabolism
Cells, Cultured
Drosophila Proteins / genetics
Drosophila Proteins / metabolism*
Drosophila melanogaster / anatomy & histology
Drosophila melanogaster / cytology*
Drosophila melanogaster / genetics
Drosophila melanogaster / metabolism
Female
Gene Silencing
Germ Cells / cytology
Germ Cells / physiology*
Membrane Proteins / genetics
Membrane Proteins / metabolism*
Mutation
Nuclear Envelope / metabolism*
Nuclear Proteins / genetics
Nuclear Proteins / metabolism*
Ovary / cytology
Ovary / metabolism
RNA Interference
Recombinant Fusion Proteins / genetics
Recombinant Fusion Proteins / metabolism
Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid
Signal Transduction / physiology
Smad4 Protein / genetics
Smad4 Protein / metabolism*
Stem Cells / cytology
Stem Cells / physiology*

Substances

Bone Morphogenetic Proteins
Drosophila Proteins
Med protein, Drosophila
Membrane Proteins
Nuclear Proteins
Ote protein, Drosophila
Recombinant Fusion Proteins
Smad4 Protein
bam protein, Drosophila
dpp protein, Drosophila