Sexy splicing: regulatory interplays governing sex determination from Drosophila to mammals.
A remarkable array of strategies is used to produce sexual differentiation in different species. Complex gene hierarchies govern sex determination pathways, as exemplified by the classic D. melanogaster paradigm, where an interplay of transcriptional, splicing and translational mechanisms operate. Molecular studies support the hypothesis that genetic sex determination pathways evolved in reverse order, from downstream to upstream genes, in the cascade. The recent identification of a role for the key regulatory factors SRY and WT1(+KTS) in pre-mRNA splicing indicates that important steps in the mammalian sex determination process are likely to operate at the post-transcriptional level.
Lalli
Enzo
E
Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Louis Pasteur, B P 163, 67404 Illkirch, Strasbourg, France. ninino@igbmc.u-strasburg.fr
Ohe
Kenji
K
Latorre
Elisa
E
Bianchi
Marco E
ME
Sassone-Corsi
Paolo
P
D000818:Animals; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics; D005809:Genes, Regulator / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D012326:RNA Splicing / Q000235:genetics*; D019849:Sex Determination Processes; D012733:Sex Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D051876:Sex-Determining Region Y Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors; D025721:WT1 Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C497745:SRY protein, human; D051876:Sex-Determining Region Y Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors; D025721:WT1 Proteins