Differential gene expression of mammalianSPO11/TOP6Ahomologs during meiosis1

Autor: Allen T. Christian, Michael P. Thelen, Laura L. Richardson, Mark Shannon, Mary Ann Handel
Rok vydání: 1999
Předmět:
Zdroj: FEBS Letters. 462:329-334
ISSN: 0014-5793
DOI: 10.1016/s0014-5793(99)01546-x
Popis: As the initiator of DNA double-strand breaks during meiosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the SPO11 protein is essential for recombination. Similarity between SPO11 and archaebacterial TOP6A proteins points to evolutionary specialization of a DNA cleavage function for meiotic recombination. To determine whether this extends to mammals, we isolated and characterized mouse and human SPO11 cDNAs. Mammalian SPO11 genes were found to be expressed at high levels only in testis, wherein mouse Spo11 transcript is restricted primarily to meiotic germ cells and is maximally expressed at mid-pachynema. Mouse Spo11 is located near the distal end of chromosome 2, while human SPO11 is found in the homologous position of chromosome 20q13.2–13.3, a region that is amplified in some breast cancers. Sequence homology and differential expression together support a highly conserved role for SPO11 in the enzymatic cleavage of DNA that accompanies meiotic recombination.
Databáze: OpenAIRE