NEMP1 organizes the meiotic telomere LINC interface to control chromosome movement and telomere integrity
- 1Washington University School of Medicine
Abstract
Nuclear Envelope Membrane Protein 1 (NEMP1) is highly expressed in oocytes and required for fertility, yet its meiotic function remains poorly understood. Here, we identify NEMP1 as a critical organizer of meiotic telomere-nuclear envelope coupling and chromosome dynamics. Loss of NEMP1 causes telomere aggregation, loss of shelterin protection, telomere shortening, persistent DNA damage, aberrant non-homologous end joining, and chromosome end-to-end fusion, ultimately leading to aneuploidy in mouse oocyte. NEMP1 is required during early fetal meiotic prophase I for telomere-nuclear envelope attachment, bouquet formation, homolog pairing, and synapsis. Live cell imaging revealed robust rapid prophase movements in wild-type meiocytes, which were nearly abolished by NEMP1 loss and restored by NEMP1-GFP re-expression. Mechanistically, NEMP1 associates with telomeric DNA and the SUN1-KASH5 LINC machinery, and SUN1-GFP restores chromosome movement in Nemp1-deficient meiocytes. Together, these findings establish NEMP1 as a nuclear-envelope organizer linking telomere protection, chromosome dynamics, and genome integrity during mammalian oogenesis.
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BibTeX
@misc{zhang2026nemp1,
title = {{NEMP1 organizes the meiotic telomere LINC interface to control chromosome movement and telomere integrity}},
author = {H. Zhang and L. Zhang and S. Pangas and A. Jurisicova and H. McNeill},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.17.752236},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.17.752236v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - NEMP1 organizes the meiotic telomere LINC interface to control chromosome movement and telomere integrity
AU - H. Zhang
AU - L. Zhang
AU - S. Pangas
AU - A. Jurisicova
AU - H. McNeill
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/17
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.17.752236
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.17.752236v1
AB - Nuclear Envelope Membrane Protein 1 (NEMP1) is highly expressed in oocytes and required for fertility, yet its meiotic function remains poorly understood. Here, we identify NEMP1 as a critical organizer of meiotic telomere-nuclear envelope coupling and chromosome dynamics. Loss of NEMP1 causes telomere aggregation, loss of shelterin protection, telomere shortening, persistent DNA damage, aberrant non-homologous end joining, and chromosome end-to-end fusion, ultimately leading to aneuploidy in mouse oocyte. NEMP1 is required during early fetal meiotic prophase I for telomere-nuclear envelope attachment, bouquet formation, homolog pairing, and synapsis. Live cell imaging revealed robust rapid prophase movements in wild-type meiocytes, which were nearly abolished by NEMP1 loss and restored by NEMP1-GFP re-expression. Mechanistically, NEMP1 associates with telomeric DNA and the SUN1-KASH5 LINC machinery, and SUN1-GFP restores chromosome movement in Nemp1-deficient meiocytes. Together, these findings establish NEMP1 as a nuclear-envelope organizer linking telomere protection, chromosome dynamics, and genome integrity during mammalian oogenesis.
ER -