{
  "id": 10711428,
  "title": "Proteome-wide quantification of protein turnover in frog and fly embryos reveals divergent strategies of maternal inheritance",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/proteome-wide-quantification-of-protein-turnover-in-frog-and-fly",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-29T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.28.754234v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Embryos inherit a maternal proteome from their mothers, which must be remodeled by zygotic proteins to develop various cell types. However, the fate of this maternal proteome has been a subject of debate, as indirect measurement techniques have been unable to fully elucidate it. To address this issue, researchers have now combined 18O-water labeling with multiplexed proteomics to determine the protein turnover rates across the entire proteome in frog and fly embryos.\n\nDuring hatching, the frog embryo manages to retain most of its maternal proteome, with rapid degradation limited to a small regulatory module. In contrast, the fruit fly cannot synthesize enough proteins solely from the yolk and, instead, rapidly degrades nearly all maternal proteins, including those previously considered stable. This includes housekeeping proteins, which are essential for basic cellular functions.\n\nDespite these differences, the hierarchy of protein turnover remains consistent between the two species. Disordered and regulatory proteins are the first to degrade, followed by the more stable proteins. Interestingly, the fly embryo is capable of rescaling the entire proteome at an eightfold faster rate compared to the frog.\n\nThese findings suggest that the developmental proteome serves a dual purpose: it functions as both informational inheritance from the mother and a metabolic reserve. By establishing 18O-water labeling as a viable method for studying protein turnover in non-feeding organisms, this research provides a valuable resource for understanding embryonic half-lives of proteins.",
  "summary": "Every embryo inherits a maternal proteome that it must remodel with zygotic proteins to build its many cell types. The fate of the maternal proteome remains contested because indirect measurements cannot resolve it. Here, we combine 18O-water labeling with multiplexed proteomics to quantify protein turnover proteome-wide in frog and fly embryos. Through hatching, the frog preserves the bulk of…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}