Abstract
Degradation of maternal proteins by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) accompanies the maternal-to-zygotic transition. DPPA3/Stella/PGC7, encoded by a maternal effect gene, is present in the nucleus and cytoplasm of zygotes and has been associated with protecting the female pronucleus from TET3-mediated demethylation. We now report that cytoplasmic DPPA3 is partially cleaved by the ubiquitin-proteasome system and an N-terminus fragment remains in the cytoplasm where it associates with early and re-cycling endosomes. If DPPA3 is absent or if cleavage is prevented, multiple vesicles coalesce/aggregate and markers of lysosomes are decreased. Fertilized eggs develop poorly into blastocysts, which results in significantly decreased fecundity of Dppa3 (R60A) transgenic mice. This phenocopies aspects of Lamp1/2 knockdowns and Dppa3 (KO) embryos can be partially rescued in vitro by DPPA3(1-60) and to a lesser extent by LAMP1/2. Thus, the N-terminus of DPPA3 has a significant role in cytoplasmic vesicular trafficking in addition to its previously reported nuclear function.