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First published online July 23, 2008

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TEX12: zipping chromosomes up

Synapsis – the pairing of homologous chromosomes during prophase in meiosis I – is mediated by a large zipper-like protein complex called the synaptonemal complex. The incorrect assembly of the synaptonemal complex causes impaired meiotic recombination and cell death, which leads to infertility in males and aneuploidy in females, but the details of how the complex forms in mammals remain obscure. On page 2445, Geert Hamer and colleagues explore the function of testis-expressed protein 12 (TEX12), which they previously identified as a component of the central element of the synaptonemal complex. The authors now show that, in Tex12^–/– mice, meiotic progression is impaired in both male and female germ cells, which leads to infertility. They go on to show that the structure of the central element is disrupted in Tex12^–/– meiocytes. Moreover, although synapsis is initiated at multiple positions along the paired homologous chromosomes, it fails to propagate along the chromosomes. Importantly, meiotic recombination is impaired in the mutant cells – double-strand breaks occur, but these do not develop into meiotic crossovers. The authors conclude that the initiation of synapsis is not sufficient for meiotic recombination.

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Related articles in JCS:

Progression of meiotic recombination requires structural maturation of the central element of the synaptonemal complex

Geert Hamer, Hong Wang, Ewelina Bolcun-Filas, Howard J. Cooke, Ricardo Benavente, and Christer Höög
JCS 2008 121: 2445-2451. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?