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Updated: Jul 12, 2025

Quantitative Analysis of Protein Expression to Study Lineage Specification in Mouse Preimplantation Embryos
11:25

Quantitative Analysis of Protein Expression to Study Lineage Specification in Mouse Preimplantation Embryos

Published on: February 22, 2016

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Loss of function of ribosomal protein L13a blocks blastocyst formation and reveals a potential nuclear role in gene

Ravinder Kour1, Jaehwan Kim2, Antara Roy1

  • 1Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Department of Biological Geological and Environmental Sciences, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

FASEB Journal : Official Publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
|October 30, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Ribosomal protein L13a (RPL13a) is crucial for early mouse embryonic development. Its absence causes arrest at the morula stage, highlighting RPL13a's essential role beyond protein synthesis.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Biology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Ribosomal proteins have canonical roles in protein synthesis and some exhibit extra-ribosomal functions.
  • Previous studies identified ribosomal protein L13a (RPL13a) in translational silencing of inflammatory proteins in myeloid cells.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of RPL13a in embryonic development.
  • To determine the consequences of RPL13a deficiency in early mouse development.

Main Methods:

  • Generating and analyzing Rpl13a-/- mouse embryos.
  • RNA sequencing of Rpl13a-/- morulae.
  • RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated depletion of RPL13a.
  • Protein-protein interaction assays.

Main Results:

  • RPL13a is essential for mouse preimplantation development, with Rpl13a-/- embryos arresting at the morula stage.
  • RNA sequencing revealed widespread gene expression alterations in Rpl13a-/- morulae, affecting inflammation, embryogenesis, and pluripotency pathways.
  • RPL13a depletion phenocopied Rpl13a-/- embryos, altering inflammatory and lineage specifier gene expression and suggesting a role in transcription via chromatin association.

Conclusions:

  • RPL13a is indispensable for the completion of preimplantation embryonic development in mice.
  • RPL13a possesses extra-ribosomal functions potentially involving transcriptional regulation.
  • Further studies will elucidate the mechanisms underlying RPL13a's role in ribosome biogenesis, protein synthesis, and target gene regulation.
Keywords:
blastocystbulk RNA sequencingchromatin associationembryonic developmentinflammationmorularibosomal protein L13a

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