Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Xenopus laevis as a Model to Identify Translation Impairment
Published on: September 27, 2015
Reversible inhibition of translation by Xenopus oocyte-specific proteins
Abstract:
A characteristic of growing oocytes of all animal species is the synthesis and accumulation of messenger RNA which is destined to be used primarily by the early embryo. The mechanism(s) which regulates the translation of this maternal mRNA remains unknown. However, the inability of the oocyte to translate all of its putative mRNA has been attributed to at least three limitations: (1) The rate of translation is limited by the availability of components of the translational apparatus other than mRNA, (2) the structural organization of the mRNA prevents translation, and (3) proteins associated with the mRNA prevent translation. Several investigators have suggested that proteins associated with maternal mRNA suppress translation in sea urchin eggs, although others claim that such results may be due to experimental artefacts. Oocyte-specific proteins have been identified in association with non-translating poly(A)+ mRNAs from Xenopus laevis oocytes, and we report here that when these proteins are reconstituted with mRNAs in vitro the translation of the mRNAs in vitro is reversibly repressed. The implication is that these proteins are involved in the regulation of translation of stored maternal mRNAs.
Related Concept Videos
Initiation of Translation
First, the initiator tRNA must be selected from the pool of elongator tRNAs by eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2). The initiator tRNA (Met-tRNAi) has conserved sequence elements including modified bases at...
Eukaryotic Transcription Inhibitors
Eukaryotic transcription inhibitors usually contain two distinct domains, a DNA...
Leaky Scanning
Regulation of Expression at Multiple Steps
Translational Regulation
Inhibitors of Viral Protein Synthesis

