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What does mos do in oocytes and somatic cells?
Author(s) -
Sagata Noriyuki
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.950190105
Subject(s) - somatic cell , microbiology and biotechnology , oocyte , mapk/erk pathway , biology , transcription factor , protein kinase a , kinase , meiosis , cell type , gene , cell , genetics , embryo
Abstract Mos, a protein kinase, is specifically expressed and functions during meiotic maturation (or G 2 /M progression) of vertebrate oocytes. When expressed ectopically, however, it can also readily induce oncogenic transformation (or uncontrolled G 1 /S transitions) in somatic cells. In both of these cell types, Mos activates mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK), which seems largely to mediate its different functions in both oocyte maturation and cellular transformation. In oocyte maturation, the Mos‐MAPK pathway probably serves to activate and stabilize M‐phase promoting factor (MPF) (possibly by inhibiting some negative regulator(s) of this factor), while in cellular transformation, it seems to stabilize and activate the nuclear oncoprotein c‐Fos as well as to induce transcription of its gene. Thus, the different functions of Mos in oocytes and somatic cells may arise chiefly from its different MAPK‐mediated targets in the respective cell types. This review discusses the cellular basis that may enable Mos to act differently in oocytes and somatic cells.