Bucky Ball Is a Novel Zebrafish Vasa ATPase Activator

Biomolecules

Alaa Shaikhqasem¹  Achim Dickmanns¹  Ralf Ficner¹  Roshan Priyarangana Perera²  Roland Dosch²  Kai Tittmann³  Nadia Rostam⁴ 

[1] Department for Molecular Structural Biology, University of Goettingen, 37077 Goettingen, Germany;Department of Developmental Biochemistry, University of Goettingen, 37077 Goettingen, Germany;Department of Molecular Enzymology, University of Goettingen, 37077 Goettingen, Germany;Institute for Human Genetics, University of Goettingen, 37073 Goettingen, Germany;

关键词: germline;    germplasm;    zebrafish;    Drosophila;    primordial germ cells;    Bucky ball;   

DOI  :  10.3390/biom11101507

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Many multicellular organisms specify germ cells during early embryogenesis by the inheritance of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules known as germplasm. However, the role of complex interactions of RNP granules during germ cell specification remains elusive. This study characterizes the interaction of RNP granules, Buc, and zebrafish Vasa (zfVasa) during germ cell specification. We identify a novel zfVasa-binding motif (Buc-VBM) in Buc and a Buc-binding motif (zfVasa-BBM) in zfVasa. Moreover, we show that Buc and zfVasa directly bind in vitro and that this interaction is independent of the RNA. Our circular dichroism spectroscopy data reveal that the intrinsically disordered Buc-VBM peptide forms alpha-helices in the presence of the solvent trifluoroethanol. Intriguingly, we further demonstrate that Buc-VBM enhances zfVasa ATPase activity, thereby annotating the first biochemical function of Buc as a zfVasa ATPase activator. Collectively, these results propose a model in which the activity of zfVasa is a central regulator of primordial germ cell (PGC) formation and is tightly controlled by the germplasm organizer Buc.

【 授权许可】

Unknown