DEPS-1 promotes P granule assembly and RNA interference in C. elegans germ cells

P granules are germ-cell-specific cytoplasmic structures containing RNA and protein and required for proper germ cell development in C. elegans. A new P-granule-associated protein, DEPS-1, whose loss disrupts P granule structure and function was analysed in this study. Genome wide analysis of gene expression in deps-1 mutant germ lines identified additional targets of DEPS-1 regulation, many of which are also regulated by the RNAi factor RDE-3. Our studies suggest that DEPS-1 is a key component of the P granule assembly pathway and that its roles include promoting accumulation of some mRNAs, such as glh-1 and rde-4, and reducing accumulation of other mRNAs, perhaps by collaborating with RDE-3 to generate endogenous short interfering RNAs (endo-siRNAs). Keywords: Mutant analysis of deps-1 dissected C. elegans gonadsP颗粒（P granules）是一类生殖细胞特异性细胞质结构，含有RNA与蛋白质，对秀丽隐杆线虫（C. elegans）的正常生殖细胞发育不可或缺。本研究针对一种新型P颗粒相关蛋白DEPS-1展开分析，该蛋白的缺失会破坏P颗粒的结构与功能。通过对deps-1突变体生殖系进行全基因组基因表达分析，本研究鉴定出DEPS-1调控的更多靶基因，其中众多靶基因同时受RNA干扰（RNAi）因子RDE-3的调控。本研究结果显示，DEPS-1是P颗粒组装通路的关键组分，其功能包括促进glh-1、rde-4等部分mRNA的积累，同时抑制另一部分mRNA的积累，这一过程可能通过与RDE-3协同生成内源性短干扰RNA（endo-siRNAs）完成。关键词：秀丽隐杆线虫解剖性腺的deps-1突变体分析