Lin28 modulates cell growth and associates with a subset of cell cycle regulator mRNAs in mouse embryonic stem cells
Abstract
Lin28 is highly expressed in human and mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. Here, we show that in mouse ES cells, specific repression of Lin28 results in decreased cell proliferation, while overexpression of Lin28 accelerates cell proliferation. Further, Lin28 associates specifically with ribonucleoprotein particles containing mRNAs for cyclins A and B and cdk4. Importantly, changes in Lin28 levels lead to corresponding changes in the levels of these proteins, and sequences from the 3' untranslated regions of cyclin B and cdk4 mRNAs exhibit stimulatory effects on translation of reporter genes in a Lin28-dependent fashion. Thus, we postulate that Lin28 may play a role in the regulation of translation of genes important for the growth and maintenance of pluripotent cells.
Keywords
Footnotes
-
↵3 Present address: Department of Biology, Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215-2406, USA.
-
Reprint requests to: Yingqun Huang, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine New Haven, CT 06511, USA; e-mail: yingqun.huang{at}yale.edu; fax: (203) 785-7134.
-
Article published online ahead of print. Article and publication date are at http://www.rnajournal.org/cgi/doi/10.1261/rna.1368009.
-
- Received September 15, 2008.
- Accepted November 20, 2008.
- Copyright © 2009 RNA Society
