Genetic drivers of division defects in
human eggs
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NATURE
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Cell biology
Embargo
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London: Monday 06 July 2015 16:00 (BST)
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New York: Monday 06 July 2015 11:00 (EDT)
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Tokyo: Tuesday 07 July 2015 00:00 (JST)
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Sydney: Tuesday 07 July 2015 01:00 (AEST)
New insights into the factors that regulate the production of human eggs, which are generated by
a form of cell division called meiosis, are identified in Nature this week. The study provides a
method for understanding how errors in meiotic division of mammalian eggs occur, which can
lead to pregnancy loss and several genetic disorders such as Down’s syndrome in humans.
Meiotic division of human eggs is highly error-prone, although the process is poorly understood
and we know very little about the genes that ensure accurate progression through meiosis.
Technical challenges have precluded previous attempts to screen for mammalian meiotic genes.
Melina Schuh and colleagues have developed a new screening method that allows them to
assess the effects of blocking protein expression in nearly 800 preselected genes (known to be
highly expressed in mouse egg cells) mediating mammalian meiosis. They detect a number of
genes that have essential roles in meiosis, such as those that regulate chromosome segregation.
The screening approach involves RNA interference, which can block the expression of specific
genes, enabling the resulting defects to be observed. The authors suggest that their method
could facilitate investigations to boost our knowledge about meiosis and early embryo
development in mammals, which is crucial to improve methods for treating fertility problems in
humans.
Another study by Schuh and colleagues, published in Nature Communications, describes a
newly discovered mechanism in mice by which mammalian egg cells separate chromosomes into
the two polar regions of the cell during meiosis. Mammalian egg cells do not contain the
structures that mediate this process during normal cell division (mitosis). The authors found that
instead, this process is controlled by the fragmentation of a structure called the microtubuleorganizing center.
Article and author details
1. Live imaging RNAi screen reveals genes essential for meiosis in
mammalian oocytes
Corresponding Author
Melina Schuh
Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Email: mschuh@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk, Tel: +44 1223 267029
DOI
10.1038/nature14568
Online paper*
http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature14568
* Please link to the article in online versions of your report (the URL will go live after the embargo ends).
Geographical listings of authors
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United Kingdom
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& United States