ABSTRACT
The regulation of egg protein synthesis has provided an exceptional model system for physiological and biochemical studies on developmental and hormonal regulation of gene expression. Some of the genes specifying major egg proteins have served as paradigms for detailed analyses of the molecular mechanisms involved. Egg-white proteins are secreted directly from the tubular gland cells into the lumen of the oviduct, while the yolk proteins, following secretion from the liver, are transported in the blood and then enter the oocyte via receptor-mediated mechanisms. All of the major yolk proteins are secreted from the liver as lipoprotein particles. The Msp1 site overlaps a sequence corresponding to a canonical estrogen response element (ERE). Based on short-term transfection studies carried out by Burch and colleagues, the canonical ERE acts synergistically with a second imperfect ERE located approximately 300 nucleotides closer to the gene.
