NLRP14 deficiency contributes to female infertility and early embryo arrest

Oocyte maturation is vital to attain full competence required fertilization and embryogenesis. As a maternal effect factor, NLRP14 is preferentially expressed in mammalian oocytes and early embryos. Yet the role and molecular mechanism of NLRP14 in oocyte maturation and early embryogenesis is largely unknown. Whether NLRP14 deficiency accounts for human infertility with oocyte and embryo defects remains to be elucidated. Here, NLRP14 is identified essential for establishment of competent oocytes that can sustain early embryo development. Maternal deficiency of Nlrp14 results in sterility characterized by oocyte maturation defects and early embryo arrest. Nlrp14 ablation leads to compromised oocyte quality and developmental competence due to impaired oocyte cytoplasmic and nuclear maturation. Mechanistically, NLRP14 interacts with UHRF1 in oocyte cytoplasm to protect it from proteasome-dependent degradation, and perturbs maternal mRNA zygotic-decay and zygotic genome activation during maternal-zygotic transition. Furthermore, compound heterozygous pathogenic variants in NLRP14 gene are identified in infertile women with early embryonic arrest, which interrupt the NLRP14-UHRF1 interaction or UHRF1 protein expression. Our data uncover a vital role of NLRP14 as a new cytoplasmic-specific modulator of UHRF1 in oocyte meiotic maturation and early embryogenesis, which should provide new insights into risk prediction and genetic diagnosis for female infertility.