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

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 accompani

SUBMITTER: Gerbasi VR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3044420 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature