The mouse homolog of Drosophila Vasa is required for the development of male germ cells.
By Satomi S. Tanaka, Yayoi Toyooka, Ryuko Akasu, Y. Katoh-Fukui, Yoko Nakahara, R. Suzuki, M. Yokoyama, T. Noce. Genes & Development, 2000
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Restricted expression of a mouse Vasa homolog gene (Mvh) expression is first detected in primordial germ cells (PGCs) after colonization of the genital ridges. Subsequently, Mvh is maintained until postmeiotic germ cells are formed. Here, we demonstrate that male mice homozygous for a targeted mutation of Mvh exhibit a reproductive deficiency. Male homozygotes produce no sperm in the testes, where premeiotic germ cells cease differentiation by the zygotene stage and undergo apoptotic death. In addition, the proliferation of PGCs that colonize homozygous male gonads is significantly hampered, and OCT-3/4 expression appears to be reduced. These results indicate that the loss of Mvh function causes a deficiency in the proliferation and differentiation of mouse male germ cells.
Subfields: Genetics, Reproductive Medicine
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/310137bdc5145b99d056362129ffd5b4d16de95d
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In Genetics
Citations in the corpus
- Tissue-Specific Functional Networks for Prioritizing Phenotype and Disease Genes (2012, background): “…5A ), including Dmc1 (required for meiosis and male fertility [41]), Ddx4 (a DEAD-box helicase required for male, but not female, germ cell development [42]), Cyct (encoding testis-specific cytochrome c [43]) and Lhx9 (a LIM homeobox required for sex differentiation and normal fertility [44]).”
- Mouse ovarian germ cell cysts undergo programmed breakdown to form primordial follicles. (2001, methodology): “Polyclonal rabbit anti-Vasa antiserum, a gift from Toshiaki Noce, was used at a dilution of 1:500 (Tanaka et al., 2000).”
- Mili, a mammalian member of piwi family gene, is essential for spermatogenesis (2004, methodology): “…Mgcl-1 (mouse germ cell-less-1; Gcl – Mouse Genome Informatics) and Miwi (mouse piwi; Piwil1 – Mouse Genome Informatics) have shown that although these genes are dispensable for PGC formation, they are essential for spermatogenesis (Deng and Lin, 2002; Kimura et al., 2003; Tanaka et al., 2000).”