RNA-binding protein Nocte regulates Drosophila development by promoting translation reinitiation on mRNAs with long upstream open reading frames.

ABSTRACT: RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) with intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) are linked to multiple human disorders, but their mechanisms of action remain unclear. Here, we report that one such protein, Nocte, is essential for Drosophila eye development by regulating a critical gene expression cascade at translational level. Knockout of nocte in flies leads to lethality, and its eye-specific depletion impairs eye size and morphology. Nocte preferentially enhances translation of mRNAs with long upstream open reading frames (uORFs). One of the key Nocte targets, glass mRNA, encodes a transcription factor critical for differentiation of photoreceptor neurons and accessory cells, and re-expression of Glass largely rescued the eye defects caused by Nocte depletion. Mechanistically, Nocte counteract

SUBMITTER: Zhang T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10810208 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature