Abstract
Microinjection of the activated ras oncogenic protein can induce the meiotic maturation of Xenopus laevis oocytes, a process that can also be triggered by progesterone or high concentrations of insulin. Cycloheximide and puromycin, well-known inhibitors of protein synthesis, block the maturation process induced by progesterone and insulin but do not affect the maturation caused by H- ras lys 12 protein microinjection. Theophylline, an inhibitor of cAMP phosphodiesterase that also affects oocyte protein synthesis, does cause a partial inhibition of ras protein-induced maturation. These findings indicate that ras protein acts on the oocyte maturation process at a point that is downstream of the protein synthesis requirement, a characteristic shared with the maturation promoting factor, an activity that appears in oocytes and mitotic cells at the onset of cell division.
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