Germ cells are the only cell types in the body which can transmit genetic information to the next generation. The research on developmental regulation of germ cells has been one of the core directions of developmental biology. The cell fate decision led by the asymmetry division (self-renewal and differentiation) of germline stem cells is the key point to the germ cell development and its lineage steady state maintenance.

Germline stem cells of Drosophila ovaries provide an ideal model for the in vivo mechanism study of germline stemcells fate decision. The asymmetry division of the germline stem cells in Drosophila ovaries is regulated by a series of endogenousand exogenous factors. Among them, the Bam protein encoded by the famous bag of marbles (bam) gene of Drosophila is the key factor in the differentiation fate of the germline stem cells during the asymmetry division. Over the past 30years, the heredity, evolution and regulatory characteristics of the bam gene have been extensively studied in the field, but the biochemical properties of the Bam protein have been a mystery.

The research group led by Dahua CHEN and Qinmiao SUN from Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences found that Bam protein is a kind of functional compounds which was composed by ubiqui-tin and deubiquitinating enzymes Otu. It can adjust the ubiquitylation level of Cyclin A and the protein stability of Cyclin A. The research result has been published on PNAS on May 8^th, 2017, titled as “Bam-dependent Deubiquitinase Complex can Disrupt Germline Stem Cell Maintenance by Targeting Cyclin A”.

Time: 2017.5.11

Source: Institute of Zoology