Figure 13.

LIN-41 and OMA-1/2 control oocyte growth and spatially regulate M-phase entry during oogenesis. (A) LIN-41 promotes oocyte growth and inhibits M-phase entry, whereas OMA-1/2 inhibits oocyte growth and promotes M-phase entry. (B) LIN-41 inhibits M-phase entry in part through the 3′ UTR-mediated translational repression of cdc-25.3, which encodes an activator of CDK-1. In turn, the activation of CDK-1 during meiotic maturation promotes the elimination of LIN-41. We speculate that the OMA proteins antagonize LIN-41 function either through GLD-2-dependent translational activation of mRNA targets or directly through some other means.