Homology of a candidate spermatogenic gene from the mouse Y chromosome to the ubiquitin-activating enzyme El

Abstract

The Sxr (sex-reversed) region, a fragment of the Y chromosome short arm, can cause chromosomally female XXSxr or XSxrO mice to develop as sterile males. The original Sxr region, termed Sxra, encodes: Tdy, the primary sex-determining gene; Hya, the controlling or structural locus for the minor transplantation antigen H-Y; gene(s) controlling the expression of the serologically detected male antigen (SDMA); Spy, a gene(s) required for the survival and proliferation of A spermatogonia during spermatogenesis; Zfy-1/Zfy-2, zinc-finger-containing genes of unknown function; and Sry, which is probably identical to Tdy. A deletion variant of Sxra, termed Sxrb, which lacks Hya, SDMA expression, Spy and some Zfy-2 sequences, makes positional cloning of these genes possible. We report here the isolation of a new testis-specific gene, Sby, mapping to the DNA deleted from the Sxrb region (the delta Sxrb interval). Sby has extensive homology to the X-linked human ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1. The critical role of this enzyme in nuclear DNA replication together with the testis-specific expression of Sby suggests Sby as a candidate for the spermatogenic gene Spy.

Differential directing of c-Fos and c-Jun proteins to the proteasome in serum-stimulated mouse embryo fibroblasts

“…Another point important to emphasize is that our work supports the notion that the ubiquitinylation activity involved in c-Jun degradation is actually dependent upon E1 and not upon another pathway involving E1-like or E1-related enzymes since the existence of such pathways has been raised by various works (Deveraux et al, 1990;Hat®eld and Viestra, 1992;Kay et al, 1992;Mitchell et al, 1992). Consistent with this idea, Hermida-Matsumoto et al (1996) have developed two dierent cell-free ubiquitinylation assays of c-Jun involving the E1 enzyme (also see the Discussion of Stancovski et al (1995)).…”

Evidence for multiple functional copies of the male sex-determining locus, sry, in African murine rodents

“…In Mus musculus, Sry lies within 2.8 kb of unique sequence at the center of a large inverted repeat (Gubbay et al 1992), a possible relic of multiple copies of Sry in the Mus lineage. Two closely linked genes, zinc finger protein, Zfy (Page et al 1987), and a gene of unknown function, Ube1Y (Mitchell et al 1991), have also multiplied on the Mus musculus Y chromosome. Zfy is present in two copies in Mus musculus (Mardon et al 1989;Nagamine et al 1989) and has amplified up to 26 times on the Y chromosome in other rodents Lau et al 1992;Nagamine 1994).…”

Developmentally regulated loss of ubiquitin and ubiquitinated proteins during pollen maturation in maize.

“…Others have reported tissue-specific expression of a component or several components of the ubiquitin conjugation/deconjugation pathway: for example, the neuronal-specific expression of a ubiquitin-dependent deconjugating enzyme, PGP 9.5 (30), the human spermspecific expression of an isozyme of ubiquitin activating enzyme (El) (31,32), and changes in conjugating enzyme (E2) composition during erythrocyte maturation (33)(34)(35). Developmentally regulated increases in ubiquitin gene expression have also been documented.…”