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Wilby EL, Weil TT. Relating the Biogenesis and Function of P Bodies in Drosophila to Human Disease. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:1675. [PMID: 37761815 PMCID: PMC10530015 DOI: 10.3390/genes14091675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Drosophila has been a premier model organism for over a century and many discoveries in flies have furthered our understanding of human disease. Flies have been successfully applied to many aspects of health-based research spanning from behavioural addiction, to dysplasia, to RNA dysregulation and protein misfolding. Recently, Drosophila tissues have been used to study biomolecular condensates and their role in multicellular systems. Identified in a wide range of plant and animal species, biomolecular condensates are dynamic, non-membrane-bound sub-compartments that have been observed and characterised in the cytoplasm and nuclei of many cell types. Condensate biology has exciting research prospects because of their diverse roles within cells, links to disease, and potential for therapeutics. In this review, we will discuss processing bodies (P bodies), a conserved biomolecular condensate, with a particular interest in how Drosophila can be applied to advance our understanding of condensate biogenesis and their role in disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Timothy T. Weil
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK;
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Sankaranarayanan M, Emenecker RJ, Wilby EL, Jahnel M, Trussina IREA, Wayland M, Alberti S, Holehouse AS, Weil TT. Adaptable P body physical states differentially regulate bicoid mRNA storage during early Drosophila development. Dev Cell 2021; 56:2886-2901.e6. [PMID: 34655524 PMCID: PMC8555633 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2021.09.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Ribonucleoprotein condensates can exhibit diverse physical states in vitro and in vivo. Despite considerable progress, the relevance of condensate physical states for in vivo biological function remains limited. Here, we investigated the physical properties of processing bodies (P bodies) and their impact on mRNA storage in mature Drosophila oocytes. We show that the conserved DEAD-box RNA helicase Me31B forms viscous P body condensates, which adopt an arrested physical state. We demonstrate that structurally distinct proteins and protein-protein interactions, together with RNA, regulate the physical properties of P bodies. Using live imaging and in situ hybridization, we show that the arrested state and integrity of P bodies support the storage of bicoid (bcd) mRNA and that egg activation modulates P body properties, leading to the release of bcd for translation in the early embryo. Together, this work provides an example of how physical states of condensates regulate cellular function in development.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Sankaranarayanan
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK.
| | - Ryan J Emenecker
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems, Washington University in St. Louis, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Elise L Wilby
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Marcus Jahnel
- Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering, Biotechnology Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Tatzberg 47/49, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Irmela R E A Trussina
- Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering, Biotechnology Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Tatzberg 47/49, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Matt Wayland
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Simon Alberti
- Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering, Biotechnology Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Tatzberg 47/49, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Alex S Holehouse
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems, Washington University in St. Louis, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Timothy T Weil
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK.
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Hecw controls oogenesis and neuronal homeostasis by promoting the liquid state of ribonucleoprotein particles. Nat Commun 2021; 12:5488. [PMID: 34531401 PMCID: PMC8446043 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25809-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Specialised ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules are a hallmark of polarized cells, like neurons and germ cells. Among their main functions is the spatial and temporal modulation of the activity of specific mRNA transcripts that allow specification of primary embryonic axes. While RNPs composition and role are well established, their regulation is poorly defined. Here, we demonstrate that Hecw, a newly identified Drosophila ubiquitin ligase, is a key modulator of RNPs in oogenesis and neurons. Hecw depletion leads to the formation of enlarged granules that transition from a liquid to a gel-like state. Loss of Hecw activity results in defective oogenesis, premature aging and climbing defects associated with neuronal loss. At the molecular level, reduced ubiquitination of the Fmrp impairs its translational repressor activity, resulting in altered Orb expression in nurse cells and Profilin in neurons. Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules are responsible for mRNA transport and local translation required for neuronal and oocyte maturation. Here the authors show that loss of the Drosophila Ub ligase Hecw enlarges RNP granules, leads to a liquid to gel-like transition, and results in defective oogenesis and neuronal loss.
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Formicola N, Heim M, Dufourt J, Lancelot AS, Nakamura A, Lagha M, Besse F. Tyramine induces dynamic RNP granule remodeling and translation activation in the Drosophila brain. eLife 2021; 10:65742. [PMID: 33890854 PMCID: PMC8064753 DOI: 10.7554/elife.65742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/04/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules are dynamic condensates enriched in regulatory RNA binding proteins (RBPs) and RNAs under tight spatiotemporal control. Extensive recent work has investigated the molecular principles underlying RNP granule assembly, unraveling that they form through the self-association of RNP components into dynamic networks of interactions. How endogenous RNP granules respond to external stimuli to regulate RNA fate is still largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate through high-resolution imaging of intact Drosophila brains that Tyramine induces a reversible remodeling of somatic RNP granules characterized by the decondensation of granule-enriched RBPs (e.g. Imp/ZBP1/IGF2BP) and helicases (e.g. Me31B/DDX-6/Rck). Furthermore, our functional analysis reveals that Tyramine signals both through its receptor TyrR and through the calcium-activated kinase CamkII to trigger RNP component decondensation. Finally, we uncover that RNP granule remodeling is accompanied by the rapid and specific translational activation of associated mRNAs. Thus, this work sheds new light on the mechanisms controlling cue-induced rearrangement of physiological RNP condensates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadia Formicola
- Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, Institut de Biologie Valrose, Nice, France
| | - Marjorie Heim
- Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, Institut de Biologie Valrose, Nice, France
| | - Jérémy Dufourt
- Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Anne-Sophie Lancelot
- Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, Institut de Biologie Valrose, Nice, France
| | - Akira Nakamura
- Department of Germline Development, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics, and Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Mounia Lagha
- Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Florence Besse
- Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, Institut de Biologie Valrose, Nice, France
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