Cloning of TCFL5 encoding a novel human basic helix-loop-helix motif protein that is specifically expressed in primary spermatocytes at the pachytene stage.
We have isolated a novel human gene that is expressed specifically in primary spermatocytes in the testis. The cDNA contains an open reading frame of 1356 bp, encoding a 452-amino-acid protein that includes a basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) motif. The gene, which was mapped to chromosome region 20q13.3-->qter by fluorescence in situ hybridization, consists of six exons and spans approximately 24 kb of genomic DNA. Immunohistochemical staining located the gene product exclusively in cell nuclei of primary spermatocytes at the pachytene stage, but not in those at the leptonema stage. We named this gene TCFL5 (transcription factor-like 5, basic helix-loop-helix). The cell-type and stage-specific expression of TCFL5 indicates that this protein may function in a crucial role in spermatogenesis as a transcription factor by regulating cell proliferation or differentiation of cells through binding to a specific DNA sequence like other bHLH molecules.
Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
O
O
Maruyama
H
H
Nishimori
T
T
Katagiri
Y
Y
Miki
A
A
Ueno
Y
Y
Nakamura
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D015153:Blotting, Western; D019556:COS Cells; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002890:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 20; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D015894:Genome, Human; D018257:Helix-Loop-Helix Motifs / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013090:Spermatocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D013347:Subcellular Fractions / Q000737:chemistry; D013737:Testis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C115162:TCFL5 protein, human