Back

A novel RNP compartment boosts translation in growing mouse oocytes to avoid cytoplasm dilution

Zollo, N.; Zaffagnini, G.; Canette, A.; Letort, G.; Da Silva, C.; Tessandier, N.; Dumont, J.; Blugeon, C.; Lemoine, S.; Wattellier, B.; Boke, E.; Almonacid, M.; Verlhac, M.-H.

2025-03-04 cell biology
10.1101/2025.03.04.641373 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Mammalian oocytes undergo a long growth phase in the ovary, during which transcriptional levels gradually decrease. Growing oocytes must therefore accumulate maternal stores and regulate their translation to achieve successful divisions and early embryo development. Using immunofluorescence, mass spectrometry and electron microscopy, we identified a novel and transient compartment, the Zollo Body, in late growing mouse oocytes, constituted of RNPs and organelles. Morphologically, this structure resembles the Balbiani body found in most vertebrate species but it stains positively for nascent translation and active phospho-mTOR. RNAseq analysis and dry mass measurements of growing oocytes with or without this compartment further support its key role in boosting translation, allowing growing oocytes to avoid cytoplasmic dilution despite their rapid size increase, ultimately ensuring their developmental potential.

Matching journals

The top 6 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.

50% of probability mass above

"Similar papers" are the closest papers from that journal in the model's embedding space. They show what the match is built on, but the ranking comes mostly from a classifier over the whole training set, not from these examples alone.