Barbee, S.A., Estes, P.S., Cziko, A.M., Hillebrand, J., Luedeman, R.A., Coller, J.M., Johnson, N., Howlett, I.C., Geng, C., Ueda, R., Brand, A.H., Newbury, S.F., Wilhelm, J.E., Levine, R.B., Nakamura, A., Parker, R., Ramaswami, M. (2006). Staufen- and FMRP-containing neuronal RNPs are structurally and functionally related to somatic P bodies.  Neuron 52(6): 997--1009.

FBrf0193882

Research paper

Local control of mRNA translation modulates neuronal development, synaptic plasticity, and memory formation. A poorly understood aspect of this control is the role and composition of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) particles that mediate transport and translation of neuronal RNAs. Here, we show that staufen- and FMRP-containing RNPs in Drosophila neurons contain proteins also present in somatic "P bodies," including the RNA-degradative enzymes Dcp1p and Xrn1p/Pacman and crucial components of miRNA (argonaute), NMD (Upf1p), and general translational repression (Dhh1p/Me31B) pathways. Drosophila Me31B is shown to participate (1) with an FMRP-associated, P body protein (Scd6p/trailer hitch) in FMRP-driven, argonaute-dependent translational repression in developing eye imaginal discs; (2) in dendritic elaboration of larval sensory neurons; and (3) in bantam miRNA-mediated translational repression in wing imaginal discs. These results argue for a conserved mechanism of translational control critical to neuronal function and open up new experimental avenues for understanding the regulation of mRNA function within neurons.

PMC1955741 (PMC) (EuropePMC)