Blanks, a nuclear siRNA/dsRNA-binding complex component, is required for Drosophila spermiogenesis

Gerbasi, V. R., Preall, J. B., Golden, D. E., Powell, D. W., Cummins, T. D., Sontheimer, E. J. (2011) Blanks, a nuclear siRNA/dsRNA-binding complex component, is required for Drosophila spermiogenesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108 (8). pp. 3204-3209. ISSN 00278424 (ISSN)

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URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21300896
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1009781108

Abstract

Small RNAs and a diverse array of protein partners control gene expression in eukaryotes through a variety of mechanisms. By combining siRNA affinity chromatography and mass spectrometry, we have identified the double-stranded RNA-binding domain protein Blanks to be an siRNA- and dsRNA-binding protein from Drosophila S2 cells. We find that Blanks is a nuclear factor that contributes to the efficiency of RNAi. Biochemical fractionation of a Blanks-containing complex shows that the Blanks complex is unlike previously described RNA-induced silencing complexes and associates with the DEAD-box helicase RM62, a protein previously implicated in RNA silencing. In flies, Blanks is highly expressed in testes tissues and is necessary for postmeiotic spermiogenesis, but loss of Blanks is not accompanied by detectable transposon derepression. Instead, genes related to innate immunity pathways are up-regulated in blanks mutant testes. These results reveal Blanks to be a unique component of a nuclear siRNA/dsRNA-binding complex that contributes to essential RNA silencing-related pathways in the male germ line.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: organism description > animal > insect > Drosophila
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > dsRNA
organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > cell types and functions > cell types > germ cell
organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > cell types and functions > cell types > germ cell
organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > cell types and functions > cell types > germ cell
Investigative techniques and equipment > spectroscopy > mass spectrometry
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > siRNA
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL Post Doctoral Fellows
CSHL labs > Hannon lab
Depositing User: CSHL Librarian
Date: 2011
Date Deposited: 09 Nov 2011 17:00
Last Modified: 03 Jan 2018 17:15
PMCID: PMC3044420
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/15633

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