The ORB2 RNA-binding protein negatively regulates its target transcripts during the Drosophila maternal-to-zygotic transition via its functionally conserved Zinc-binding 'ZZ' domain.

ABSTRACT: Post-transcriptional regulation is particularly prominent during the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT), a developmental phase during which a large proportion of maternally provided mRNAs is repressed and cleared from metazoan embryos. RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are key components of the post-transcriptional regulatory machinery. We show that the ORB2 RBP, the Drosophila ortholog of human Cytoplasmic Polyadenylation Element Binding Protein (hCPEB) 2-4 protein subfamily, binds to hundreds of maternally provided, rare-codon-enriched mRNAs in early embryos; that ORB2 targets are translationally repressed and unstable during the MZT; identify a U-rich motif enriched in ORB2 targets' 3'UTRs; and show that this motif confers ORB2 binding and repression to a luciferase reporter mRNA in S2 tiss

SUBMITTER: Low TCH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12265677 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature