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A helicase that gets Oskar's message across

Nature Cell Biology volume 6, pages 285–287 (2004)Cite this article

Messenger RNA localization is a common way of targeting proteins to their site of function. This process is dependent on RNA signals that are interpreted by trans-acting factors. A putative RNA helicase and translational initiation factor is now shown to form a conserved complex, important for localization of oskar mRNA in Drosophila melanogaster and RNA surveillance in human cells.

A priori, it seemed reasonable to assume that the sorting of transcripts to distinct destinations would be defined by a simple RNA signal to which a single trans-acting factor binds, providing a specific link to an appropriate motor. Indeed, this is the case for yeast ASH1 mRNA: She2p and She3p link ASH1 RNA to the myosin motor required for its localization7. However, it is not that simple in Drosophila. Single-specificity determinants have not been found for bcd, osk or grk mRNA, and specific destinations are most probably defined by many trans-acting factors that vary considerably in their composition during different stages of the complex journey of an RNA — from its site of transcription to its final cytoplasmic destination. For example, the bcd 3′-untranslated region (UTR) localization signal is decorated by several factors that might all be involved in its localization8. Similarly, osk mRNA always colocalizes with Staufen (a double-stranded RNA-binding protein essential for its localization), but Staufen alone cannot determine its transcript destination as it also binds to bcd. Furthermore, osk mRNA localization requires, among other factors, a nuclear exon junction complex (EJC)9 containing Mago nashi (Mago) and Y14 (Mago-Y14), which has been shown in human cells to mark the location on a spliced transcript where introns have been removed.

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Figure 1: Ribonucleoprotein sorting during fly oogenesis.
Figure 2: eIF4AIII, Btz and Mago-Y14 may be recruited at distinct stages.

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  1. the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JR, UK

    Ilan Davis

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Davis, I. A helicase that gets Oskar's message across. Nat Cell Biol 6, 285–287 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0404-285

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