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Dynamic intracellular localization of Dazl protein during Xenopus germline development

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Abstract

Xenopus dazl encoding an RNA-binding protein has been identified as a component of the germ plasm and is involved in the migration and differentiation of the primordial germ cells (PGCs). Here, we investigated the intracellular localization of Dazl in germline cells throughout the lifetime of Xenopus. In early embryogenesis, Dazl was detected initially in the germ plasm and then translocated to a perinuclear region. Then, it was detected within the nucleus in PGCs. Dazl was observed only in the cytoplasm in PGCs when sex differentiation began in the gonads. Dazl was distributed in both the nucleus and cytoplasm of the primary oogonium and spermatogonium, but only in the cytoplasm of the secondary oogonium and spermatogonium. In spermatocytes, Dazl was distributed throughout cytoplasm and localized at the spindles and cytoplasm during meiosis. Then, it was detected as speckles in the nucleus in the round spermatid. The dynamic intracellular localization suggests that Dazl is a multifunctional protein regulating RNA metabolism required for Xenopus germline development.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Koichi Mita (Tokushima Bunri Univ.) and Masakane Yamashita (Hokkaido Univ.) for the anti-Xdazl monoclonal antibody (referred to as anti-Dazl in this study), and Hideo Nishitani and Fumiko Hirose (Univ. Hyogo) for the anti-tubulin antibody. We thank Shin-ichiro Nishitani (Minoo-Higashi high school) for staging meiosis, and Kensuke Kataoka, Midori Kitao and Kenji Watanabe (Univ. Hyogo) for sharing their preliminary data. We also thank members of our laboratory, especially Makoto Mochii and Yoshihiko Umesono, for their support and encouragement. This study was supported in part by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI (Grant Number 257228) to HT.

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  1. Haru Tada

    Present address: Department of Life Science, School of Science, Rikkyo University, 3–34–1 Nishi-ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, 178–8501, Japan

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  1. Department of Life Science, University of Hyogo, 3-2-1 Koto, Kamigori, Akou-gun, Hyogo, 678-1297, Japan

    Haru Tada & Hidefumi Orii

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Correspondence to Haru Tada.

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Tada, H., Orii, H. Dynamic intracellular localization of Dazl protein during Xenopus germline development. Histochem Cell Biol 144, 157–166 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-015-1323-5

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