Exploring the molecular processes regulating maternal mRNA stabilization and decay after fertilization.

• Applicant: Dr. Marlon Stoeckius
• Subject Area: Developmental Biology
• Term: from 2014 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 256621060

The beginning of new life upon fertilization is among the most fundamental yet least understood events in biology. It is initiated by the fusion of two highly specialized cells, sperm and oocyte, to form a single totipotent cell from which the entire organism is derived. Remarkably, the transition from oocyte to embryo (OET) occurs in the absence of gene transcription, and is driven exclusively by information present in the oocyte. Although developmental progression requires both the activation and subsequent removal of these maternal mRNAs, the molecular mechanisms underlying their precise control are largely unknown. This project aims to identify the post-transcriptional gene regulatory network that is modulating maternal mRNA stability and decay upon fertilization in vertebrates by identifying a) subsets of genes under common maternal regulatory control at the OET and early embryogenesis, b) the cis-regulatory motifs on maternal mRNAs, and c) the trans-acting factors (proteins and RNAs) responsible for mRNA stability and decay. These findings will not only provide fundamental insights into a universal developmental transition, but will uncover general principles of post-transcriptional gene regulation that underlie fertility, as well as processes implicated in cellular reprogramming and carcinogenesis.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Antonio Giraldez, Ph.D.