The Cold Shock Domain Protein LIN-28 Controls Developmental Timing in C. elegans and Is Regulated by the lin-4 RNA

Mutations in the heterochronic gene lin-28 of C. elegans cause precocious development where diverse events specific to the second larval stage are skipped. lin-28 encodes a cytoplasmic protein with a cold shock domain and retroviral-type (CCHC) zinc finger motifs, consistent with a role for LIN-28 i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cell 1997-03, Vol.88 (5), p.637-646
Main Authors: Moss, Eric G, Lee, Rosalind C, Ambros, Victor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans - genetics
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
Chromosome Mapping
Cloning, Molecular
Cold Temperature
Cytoplasm - physiology
Embryonic Induction - physiology
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental - physiology
Genes, Helminth - physiology
Genotype
Green Fluorescent Proteins
Helminth Proteins - chemistry
Helminth Proteins - genetics
Helminth Proteins - metabolism
Luminescent Proteins
Molecular Sequence Data
Nuclear Proteins
Phenotype
Protein Structure, Tertiary
Retroviridae - genetics
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Transformation, Genetic
Zinc Fingers - genetics
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Summary:Mutations in the heterochronic gene lin-28 of C. elegans cause precocious development where diverse events specific to the second larval stage are skipped. lin-28 encodes a cytoplasmic protein with a cold shock domain and retroviral-type (CCHC) zinc finger motifs, consistent with a role for LIN-28 in posttranscriptional regulation. The 3′UTR of lin-28 contains a conserved element that is complementary to the 22 nt regulatory RNA product of lin-4 and that resembles seven such elements in the 3′UTR of the heterochronic gene lin-14. Both lin-4 activity and the lin-4-complementary element (LCE) are necessary for stage-specific regulation of lin-28. Deleting the LCE produces a dominant gain-of-function allele that causes a retarded phenotype, indicating that lin-28 activity is a switch that controls choices of stage-specific fates.
ISSN:0092-8674
1097-4172
DOI:10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81906-6