Roles of RNA-binding proteins and post-transcriptional regulation in driving male germ cell development in the mouse

Abstract

Tissue development and homeostasis are dependent on highly regulated gene expression programs in which cell-specifi c combinations of regulatory factors determine which genes are expressed and the post-transcriptional fate of the resulting RNA transcripts. Post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression by RNA-binding proteins has critical roles in tissue development—allowing individual genes to generate multiple RNA and protein products, and the timing, location, and abundance of protein synthesis to be finely controlled. Extensive post-transcriptional regulation occurs during mammalian gametogenesis, including high levels of alternative mRNA expression, stage-specific expression of mRNA variants, broad translational repression, and stage-specific activation of mRNA translation. In this chapter, an overview of the roles of RNA-binding proteins and the importance of post-transcriptional regulation in male germ cell development in the mouse is presented.