Oocyte-Specific Translational Control Mechanisms

During the growth period of oogenesis, meiotically-arrested oocytes accumulate large quantities of dormant mRNAs. Meiotic resumption is fully dependent on translation-regulation cascades of these maternal mRNAs. Not only the time of protein synthesis is finely regulated during this period, but the basic embryonic axis and the establishment of germ cells are also defined, through the localization of dormant mRNAs within the oocyte. The coordinated temporal and spatial regulation of the transcripts required to complete the two meiotic divisions, segregate correctly the chromosomes and establish the polarity in the egg, is orchestrated by RNA-binding proteins that recognize specific cis-acting elements in the 3'UTRs of groups of mRNAs implicated in similar functions. These RNA-binding proteins are organized in combinatorial networks stabilized by feedback loops that ensure unidirectional progression through meiosis to produce a functional egg.