title: Silencing of unsynapsed meiotic chromosomes in the mouse.
abstract: In Neurospora, DNA unpaired in meiosis both is silenced and induces silencing of all DNA homologous to it. This process, called meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA, is thought to protect the host genome from invasion by transposable elements. We now show that silencing of unpaired (unsynapsed) chromosome regions also takes place in the mouse during both male and female meiosis. The tumor suppressor protein BRCA1 is implicated in this silencing, mirroring its role in the meiotic silencing of the X and Y chromosomes in normal male meiosis. These findings impact on the interpretation of the relationship between synaptic errors and sterility in mammals and extend our understanding of the biology of Brca1.
authors.affiliation: Division of Stem Cell Research and Developmental Genetics, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK. jturner@nimr.mrc.ac.uk <jturner@nimr.mrc.ac.uk>
authors.forename: James M A
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Shantha K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Mahadevaiah
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Capetillo
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nussenzweig
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Chu-Xia
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Paul S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Burgoyne
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D023902:Chromosome Pairing; D004260:DNA Repair; D005260:Female; D020868:Gene Silencing; D019398:Genes, BRCA1 / Q000502:physiology; D006657:Histones / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008540:Meiosis; D051379:Mice; D009865:Oocytes / Q000502:physiology; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013090:Spermatocytes / Q000502:physiology; D014178:Translocation, Genetic; D014960:X Chromosome; D014998:Y Chromosome
chemical_list: D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D006657:Histones; C475961:gamma-H2AX protein, mouse; C576897:Atr protein, mouse; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases