Meiotic cohesin complexes are essential for the formation of the axial element in mice.
Cohesin is a conserved multisubunit protein complex that participates in chromosome segregation, DNA damage repair, chromatin regulation, and synaptonemal complex (SC) formation. Yeast, but not mice, depleted of the cohesin subunit Rec8 are defective in the formation of the axial elements (AEs) of the SC, suggesting that, in mammals, this function is not conserved. In this paper, we show that spermatocytes from mice lacking the two meiosis-specific cohesin subunits RAD21L and REC8 were unable to initiate RAD51- but not DMC1-mediated double-strand break repair, were not able to assemble their AEs, and arrested as early as the leptotene stage of prophase I, demonstrating that cohesin plays an essential role in AE assembly that is conserved from yeast to mammals.
Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
Elena
E
Llano
Yurema
Y
Herrán
Ignacio
I
García-Tuñón
Cristina
C
Gutiérrez-Caballero
Enrique
E
de Álava
José Luis
JL
Barbero
John
J
Schimenti
Dirk G
DG
de Rooij
Manuel
M
Sánchez-Martín
Alberto M
AM
Pendás
D000818:Animals; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / Q000378:metabolism*; D053903:DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D008297:Male; D008540:Meiosis; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism*; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D000097722:Cohesins
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D000097722:Cohesins; C465862:Rad21 protein, mouse; C465863:Rec8 protein, mouse