Publications
25 February 2026
BOLL-Containing Aggregates Mediate the Translational Regulation During Human Oogenesis
Abstract
Human oocyte meiosis
utilises a specialised translational control strategy to coordinate meiotic
progression, mediated through dynamic regulation of mRNA stores. While germ
cell-specific RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are known to orchestrate this
post-transcriptional programme, the mechanistic basis of RBP-mediated cell fate
specification remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that BOLL, a Deleted in
Azoospermia (DAZ) family protein, forms protein aggregates during meiotic
prophase to drive translational reprogramming in human oogenesis. We determined
that BOLL enhances the translation efficiency of cell cycle regulators, as
demonstrated by integrative translatome-transcriptome analysis combined with
RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing. We also revealed the functional interaction
network of BOLL with core translation machinery components through its
conserved DAZ-containing domain. Crucially, we identified SDS-resistant protein
aggregates as a structural signature of BOLL in human oocyte-like cells,
demonstrated by semi-denaturing electrophoretic analysis. Using human foetal
ovarian tissues and an hESC-derived oogenesis model, we delineate a paradigm
wherein BOLL-containing aggregates exert spatiotemporal control over cell cycle
genes during meiosis prophase. These findings reveal that protein aggregates of
gametogenesis-specific RBPs constitute an evolutionarily conserved mechanism in
mammalian reproductive regulation.