Gene responsible for protein assembly in early embryo development identified

A protein has been identified which plays a key role in early embryo development in mice, providing potential insights into the regulation of human embryonic development.

Researchers in Spain identified the gene NKX1-2 as coding for a protein that is essential for for the assembly of ribosomes, a part of the cell apparatus responsible for the structuring of proteins. They found NKX1-2 co-ordinates the early sequence of events which is essential for embryos to be able to develop normally.

'NKX1-2 belongs to a protein family which is known to play crucial roles in early development and organ formation,' said Professor Maria Pia Cosma, research professor at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, Spain and senior author of the study. 'While we knew that members of this family were important in general development, NKX1-2's specific role, especially in early embryonic stages, wasn't well understood.'

The researchers inhibited the gene which codes for the NKX1-2 protein to identify its roles in mouse embryo development. Inhibition resulted in the dysregulation of the assembly of ribosomes and inability to segregate their chromosomes correctly during cell division at the two and four-cell stage. This led to the embryos arresting and not being able to grow further.

While researchers did not identify exactly how this disruption occurred they found that embryos with inhibited NKX1-2 also had impaired mRNA processing and translation which potentially limited the ability of cell communication essential to early development to take place.

Researchers believe there are likely to be other regulators like NKX1-2 which have important roles in early embryo development. 'NKX1-2 is expressed at very low levels, which makes it extremely difficult to detect. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack using traditional methods in biology,' said Professor Cosma. 'Repeating our methods could help find other rare and critical elements that have been historically overlooked.'

The research is published in Stem Cell Reports.