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Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Maternal RNAs and proteins from the oocyte drive the initial phase of embryonic development in vertebrates, until large-scale gene expression
from the embryonic genome is induced in a process known as zygotic genome activation (ZGA). It is unclear how the onset of ZGA is controlled. Working in zebrafish embryos, Shen et al. now
show that gradual maturation of nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) drives nuclear transport and accumulation of maternal transcription factors, which induce ZGA. To study nuclear import of
maternal transcription factors during early embryogenesis, the authors profiled nuclear versus whole-cell proteins by mass spectrometry in zebrafish embryos. They observed embryos at the
32-cell stage (prior to ZGA), and at the 512-cell stage, also known as the midblastula transition (MBT), when the major ZGA is about to occur (a minor ZGA, which is not discussed here,
occurs earlier). The abundance of many maternal transcription factors markedly increased (up to 100-fold) in nuclei, but not in whole-cell samples, at the 512-cell stage, including the
pioneer transcription factors Nanog, Sox19b and Pou5f3, and the more specific transcription factor Eomesa. Furthermore, the abundance of 16 different Nups increased between the 32- and
512-cell stages, suggesting change in NPC composition around the MBT. Immunostaining of maternal Eomesa and Nanog in cells revealed a steady increase in their nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio
towards the 1,000-cell stage (post-MBT). Thus, nuclear import of at least a subset of maternal nuclear factors is developmentally regulated. This is a preview of subscription content, access
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institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support REFERENCES ORIGINAL ARTICLE * Shen, W. et al. Comprehensive maturity of nuclear pore complexes regulates zygotic genome
activation. _Cell_ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.11.011 (2022) Article Google Scholar Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Nature Reviews Molecular Cell
Biology http://www.nature.com/nrm/ Eytan Zlotorynski Authors * Eytan Zlotorynski View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Correspondence to Eytan Zlotorynski. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Zlotorynski, E. Nuclear pore complexes as clocks of zygotic genome
activation. _Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol_ 24, 83 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-022-00575-7 Download citation * Published: 06 January 2023 * Issue Date: February 2023 * DOI:
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