PUBLICATION
Meioc-Piwil1 complexes regulate rRNA transcription for differentiation of spermatogonial stem cells
- Authors
- Kawasaki, T., Nishimura, T., Tani, N., Ramos, C., Karaulanov, E., Shinya, M., Saito, K., Taylor, E., Ketting, R.F., Ishiguro, K.I., Tanaka, M., Siegfried, K.R., Sakai, N.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-250725-3
- Date
- 2025
- Source
- eLIFE 14: (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Ketting, René, Shinya, Minori, Siegfried, Kellee, Taylor, Emily
- Keywords
- developmental biology, meioc, piwil1, rRNA transcription, spermatogonial stem cell, zebrafish
- Datasets
- GEO:GSE84060
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Argonaute Proteins*/genetics
- Argonaute Proteins*/metabolism
- Adult Germline Stem Cells*/physiology
- Cell Differentiation*
- Zebrafish
- Zebrafish Proteins*/genetics
- Zebrafish Proteins*/metabolism
- Male
- Spermatogonia*/cytology
- Spermatogonia*/metabolism
- Spermatogonia*/physiology
- Transcription, Genetic*
- RNA, Ribosomal*/biosynthesis
- RNA, Ribosomal*/genetics
- RNA, Ribosomal*/metabolism
- PubMed
- 40705004 Full text @ Elife
Citation
Kawasaki, T., Nishimura, T., Tani, N., Ramos, C., Karaulanov, E., Shinya, M., Saito, K., Taylor, E., Ketting, R.F., Ishiguro, K.I., Tanaka, M., Siegfried, K.R., Sakai, N. (2025) Meioc-Piwil1 complexes regulate rRNA transcription for differentiation of spermatogonial stem cells. eLIFE. 14:.
Abstract
Ribosome biogenesis is vital for sustaining stem cell properties, yet its regulatory mechanisms are obscure. Herein, we show unique properties of zebrafish meioc mutants in which spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) do not differentiate or upregulate rRNAs. Meioc colocalized with Piwil1 in perinuclear germ granules, but Meioc depletion resulted in Piwil1 accumulation in nucleoli. Nucleolar Piwil1 interacted with 45S pre-rRNA. piwil1+/- spermatogonia with reduced Piwil1 upregulated rRNAs, and piwil1+/-;meioc-/- spermatogonia recovered differentiation later than those in meioc-/-. Further, Piwil1 interacted with Setdb1 and HP1α, and meioc-/- spermatogonia exhibited high levels of H3K9me3 and methylated CpG in the 45S-rDNA region. These results indicate that zebrafish SSCs maintain low levels of rRNA transcription with repressive marks similar to Drosophila piRNA targets of RNA polymerase II, and that Meioc has a unique function on preventing localization of Piwil1 in nucleoli to upregulate rRNA transcripts and to promote SSC differentiation.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping