No.32 Seminar ： The Nucleolus in Mammalian Oocytes
- Sugako OGUSHI（The Hakubi Center）
- 2011/12/20 4:00pm
- The Hakubi Center (iCeMS West Wing 2F, Seminar Room)
- English
Summary
The human body is comprised of 60 trillion or 200 different kinds of cells. Each cell contains organelles and structures responsible for cell metabolism and activities. The nucleolus is the most prominent structure in the cell nucleus. The primary function of the nucleolus is its role in the biogenesis of ribosome, the protein factory organelles in which peptides are translated from mRNA. In prokaryotes, however, ribosome synthesis occurs despite the absence of defined nucleolus structure, suggesting that the construction of nucleolus structure in eukaryotes might have some other essential role. In mammals, a fully-grown oocyte has a nucleolus exhibiting highly compact and fibrillar morphology. The oocyte ceases its entire transcription, including ribosomal RNA transcription, and the chromatin no longer penetrates the nucleolus. Although this nucleolus appears inactive in ribosome biogenesis, however, we have found that it is absolutely essential for early embryonic development. In this seminar, I will introduce the background of my study, and discuss the expected roles of the nucleolus structure.