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First published online September 17, 2008

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STRA8 – no commitment-phobe

Successful meiosis in both male and female gonads and normal spermatogenesis depend on the expression of Stra8 (stimulated by retinoic acid 8); the exact role of STRA8 in normal male meiosis, however, has been largely unexplored. On page 3233, Manuel Mark, Norbert B. Ghyselinck and colleagues use gene targeting to investigate the function of STRA8 in male germ-cell development in the mouse. The authors find that Stra8-null male germ cells engage in premeiotic replication and commit to meiotic synapsis and recombination, but that synapsis is subsequently disrupted, probably by defects in chromosome pairing. This is in contrast to the situation in the female, in which STRA8 is required by germ cells to initiate meiosis. Interestingly, the authors show that the mutant spermatocytes undergo premature chromosome condensation and entry into meiotic metaphase, which suggests that they are retaining some characteristics of mitotic cells. From these data, the authors propose that STRA8 is required for the progression of spermatocytes through the early stages of meiotic prophase (notably homologous-chromosome pairing), and is involved in regulating the switch from a mitotic pattern of cell division to the meiotic pattern.

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Related articles in JCS:

STRA8-deficient spermatocytes initiate, but fail to complete, meiosis and undergo premature chromosome condensation

Manuel Mark, Hugues Jacobs, Mustapha Oulad-Abdelghani, Christine Dennefeld, Betty Féret, Nadège Vernet, Carmen-Alina Codreanu, Pierre Chambon, and Norbert B. Ghyselinck
JCS 2008 121: 3233-3242. [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?