Expression of the mouse Aven gene during spermatogenesis, analyzed by subtraction screening using Mvh-knockout mice.
As an attempt to investigate the function of the mouse Vasa-homolog (MVH) protein, a germ cell-specific RNA helicase, we have cloned genes that fail to be expressed in homozygous Mvh-knockout testes. One of the cDNA clones obtained by selective PCR subtraction cloning matched two cDNA sequences in the mouse testis cDNA database, and was highly homologous to Aven, a human gene regulating cell death. Sequences of the two mouse testis cDNAs in the database revealed that they share an 800 bp sequence but have quite different 5'-regions; the latter are derived from different exons by alternative use of transcription initiation sites. The shorter (mAven-S) and longer (mAven-L) transcripts encode 216 and 342 amino acids, respectively, and both isoforms are predominantly expressed in adult testes. However, mAven-L is not completely testis-specific and is expressed in testes during all developmental stages, whereas the expression of mAven-S is restricted to the testis and is barely detectable in Mvh-homozygous testes. In situ hybridization showed that mAven-S is expressed specifically in post-meiotic cells, mainly in round spermatids.
Ina
Sawako
S
Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Mitsubishi Kasei Institute of Life Sciences, 11 Minami-Ooya, Machida-shi, 194-8511 Tokyo, Japan.
Tsunekawa
Naoki
N
Nakamura
Aya
A
Noce
Toshiaki
T
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020365:RNA Helicases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017385:Sequence Homology; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism
C090864:Ddx4 protein, mouse; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D020365:RNA Helicases