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Mol. Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on August 20, 2008
Molecular Human Reproduction 2008 14(10):581-588; doi:10.1093/molehr/gan047
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Identification and characterization of human embryonic poly(A) binding protein (EPAB)

Ozlem Guzeloglu-Kayisli{dagger}, Samuel Pauli{dagger}, Habibe Demir, Maria D. Lalioti, Denny Sakkas and Emre Seli1

Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA

1 Correspondence address. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George street, Suite 770J, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. Fax: +1-203-785-7134; E-mail: emre.seli{at}yale.edu

Transcriptional silencing that begins with oocyte maturation persists during the initial mitotic divisions of the embryo. Gene expression during this period largely depends on the translational activation of maternal mRNAs by cytoplasmic polyadenylation and requires an embryonic poly(A) binding protein (EPAB). EPAB has been identified in Xenopus and mouse, where it is expressed exclusively in oocytes and early embryos until zygotic genome activation (ZGA) when it is replaced by the somatic cytoplasmic poly(A) binding protein (PABPC1). EPAB plays a central role in the regulation of maternal mRNA activation by preventing deadenylation and promoting translation. In this study, we identified and characterized the human EPAB ortholog. Human EPAB is a 619 amino acid protein with 77% identity and 84% similarity to mouse EPAB. Human EPAB mRNA is detected in ovaries, testes and several somatic tissues including pancreas, liver and thymus. Similar to the observations in Xenopus and mouse, human EPAB is the predominant poly(A) binding protein in immature (germinal vesicle) and mature (metaphase II) oocytes, and it is replaced by PABPC1 following ZGA, which occurs at 4- to 8-cell stage in human. Our findings suggest that the unique translational regulatory pathways that control gene expression during oogenesis and early embryo development may be common between model organisms and humans.

Key words: embryonic poly(A) binding protein/oocyte/embryo/polyadenylation/translational control

{dagger} These authors contributed equally to this work.

Submitted on May 31, 2008; resubmitted on August 4, 2008; accepted on August 11, 2008.


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