Molecular basis governing primary sex in mammals.
The function of Sry for inducing a male gonad was identified due to a development of a transgenic XX male mouse with testes by introducing a single gene into an embryo. The intronless Sry encodes a putative transcriptional protein harboring an HMG motif. The sequence similarity within the HMG motif has been highly conserved despite less conservation in other domains. Hence, the HMG motif must play a critical role in the transcriptional regulation, leading to the development of a male gonad. However, a non HMG box C terminal domain of Sry protein may also be indispensable for inducing normal testicular development. Further, several autosomal genes, such as SF1, WT1, SOX and MIS, as well as a unique X chromosomal DAX1 were suggested to be associated with the development of gonadal sex in mammals. Therefore, the significance on the involvement of these genes in the molecular mechanism of mammalian sex determination should be also considered.
Nagai
K
K
Department of Biochemistry, Tokyo Medical College, Japan.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D057137:DAX-1 Orphan Nuclear Receptor; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005812:Genes, Switch / Q000235:genetics; D006066:Gonads / Q000196:embryology; D006609:High Mobility Group Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008322:Mammals / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D000072260:RNA Splicing Factors; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid / Q000235:genetics; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors; D012728:Sex Chromatin; D012732:Sex Determination Analysis; D012733:Sex Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D051876:Sex-Determining Region Y Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D025721:WT1 Proteins; D014960:X Chromosome / Q000235:genetics; D014998:Y Chromosome / Q000235:genetics
D057137:DAX-1 Orphan Nuclear Receptor; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D006609:High Mobility Group Proteins; C539965:NR0B1 protein, human; C539966:Nr0b1 protein, mouse; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D000072260:RNA Splicing Factors; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C107467:SF1 protein, human; C490906:SOX1 protein, human; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors; C497745:SRY protein, human; D051876:Sex-Determining Region Y Protein; C491514:Sf1 protein, mouse; D014157:Transcription Factors; D025721:WT1 Proteins