Fatty Acids Regulate Germline Sex Determination through ACS-4-Dependent Myristoylation.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28431246.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1016/j.cell.2017.03.049.
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Abstract
Fat metabolism has been linked to fertility and reproductive adaptation in animals and humans, and environmental sex determination potentially plays a role in the process. To investigate the impact of fatty acids (FA) on sex determination and reproductive development, we examined and observed an impact of FA synthesis and mobilization by lipolysis in somatic tissues on oocyte fate in Caenorhabditis elegans. The subsequent genetic analysis identified ACS-4, an acyl-CoA synthetase and its FA-CoA product, as key germline factors that mediate the role of FA in promoting oocyte fate through protein myristoylation. Further tests indicated that ACS-4-dependent protein myristoylation perceives and translates the FA level into regulatory cues that modulate the activities of MPK-1/MAPK and key factors in the germline sex-determination pathway. These findings, including a similar role of ACS-4 in a male/female species, uncover a likely conserved mechanism by which FA, an environmental factor, regulates sex determination and reproductive development.
Medical subject headings
- Acetate-CoA Ligase
- Caenorhabditis elegans
- Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
- Fatty Acids
- Myristic Acid
- Protein Processing, Post-Translational
- Sex Determination Processes