{"doi":"10.1101/2022.05.11.491546","title":"Translation of the ERM-1 membrane-binding domain directs <i>erm-1</i> mRNA localization to the plasma membrane in the <i>C. elegans</i> embryo","abstract":"ABSTRACT mRNA localization and transport are integral in regulating gene expression. In Caenorhabditis elegans embryos, the maternally inherited mRNA erm-1 (Ezrin/Radixin/Moesin) concentrates in anterior blastomeres. erm-1 mRNA localizes within those blastomeres to the plasma membrane where the essential ERM-1 protein, a membrane-actin linker, is also found. We demonstrate that the localization of erm-1 mRNA to the plasma membrane is translation-dependent and requires its encoded N-terminal membrane-binding (FERM) domain. By perturbing translation through multiple methods, we found erm-1 mRNA localization at the plasma membrane was maintained only if the nascent peptide remained in complex with the translating mRNA. Indeed, recoding the erm-1 mRNA coding sequence while preserving the encoded amino acid sequence did not disrupt erm-1 mRNA localization, corroborating that the information directing mRNA localization resides within its membrane-binding protein domain. A smiFISH screen of 17 genes encoding similar membrane-binding domains identified three plasma membrane localized mRNAs in the early embryo. Nine additional transcripts showed apparent membrane localization later in development. These findings point to a translation-dependent pathway for localization of mRNAs encoding membrane-associated proteins. SUMMARY STATEMENT In C. elegans, erm-1 mRNA localization to plasma membranes requires translation of the ERM-1 membrane-binding domain","journal":"bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)","year":2022,"id":310944,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9537,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2022-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":350980,"name":"Dylan M. Parker","orcid":"0000-0002-4910-4113","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":282262,"name":"Robert T. Williams","orcid":"0000-0002-3384-212X","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":30210,"name":"Erin Osborne Nishimura","orcid":"0000-0002-4313-4573","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":350981,"name":"Lindsay P. Winkenbach","orcid":"0000-0002-1766-3260","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":82,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T00:33:24.451129Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}