Meiosis in mammalian oocytes pauses in prophase until luteinizing hormone(LH) releases this arrest. One suggestion is that LH does this by closing the gap junctions between the somatic cells that surround the oocyte, thus blocking the transmission of a meiosis-inhibitory signal to oocytes. Now,Norris and co-workers show that LH-induced MAP kinase-dependent gap junction phosphorylation and closure is one of two paths to meiotic resumption in mouse ovarian follicles (see p. 3229). By monitoring the diffusion of fluorescent tracers in intact follicles, the researchers show for the first time that LH decreases the permeability of connexin 43-containing gap junctions between the somatic cells before nuclear envelope breakdown (NEBD; the start of the prophase-metaphase transition) occurs in oocytes. MAP kinase-dependent phosphorylation of connexin 43 causes this decreased permeability, they report. However,surprisingly, inhibition of MAP kinase activation does not prevent NEBD. Thus,they suggest, another pathway functions in parallel to MAP kinase-dependent gap junction closure to trigger meiosis resumption in response to LH.
LH frees oocytes from meiotic arrest
LH frees oocytes from meiotic arrest. Development 1 October 2008; 135 (19): e1905. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
Call for papers: Uncovering Developmental Diversity
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue: Uncovering Developmental Diversity. This issue will be coordinated by our academic Editor Cassandra Extavour (Harvard University, USA) alongside two Guest Editors: Liam Dolan (Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Austria) and Karen Sears (University of California Los Angeles, USA).
Choose Development in 2024
In this Editorial, Development Editor-in-Chief James Briscoe and Executive Editor Katherine Brown explain how you support your community by publishing in Development and how the journal champions serious science, community connections and progressive publishing.
Journal Meeting: From Stem Cells to Human Development
Register now for the 2024 Development Journal Meeting From Stem Cells to Human Development. Early-bird registration deadline: 3 May. Abstract submission deadline: 21 June.
Pluripotency of a founding field: rebranding developmental biology
This collaborative Perspective, the result of a workshop held in 2023, proposes a set of community actions to increase the visibility of the developmental biology field. The authors make recommendations for new funding streams, frameworks for collaborations and mechanisms by which members of the community can promote themselves and their research.
Read & Publish Open Access publishing: what authors say
We have had great feedback from authors who have benefitted from our Read & Publish agreement with their institution and have been able to publish Open Access with us without paying an APC. Read what they had to say.