Meiotic cohesin complexes are essential for the formation of the axial element in mice

作者：Llano Elena; Herran Yurema; Garcia Tunon Ignacio; Gutierrez Caballero Cristina; de Alava Enrique; Luis Barbero Jose; Schimenti John; de Rooij Dirk G; Sanchez Martin Manuel; Pendas Alberto M^*

来源：The Journal of Cell Biology, 2012, 197(7): 877-885.

DOI：10.1083/jcb.201201100

Cohesin is a conserved multisubunit protein complex that participates in chromosome segregation, DNA damage repair, chromatin regulation, and synaptonemal complex (SC) formation. Yeast, but not mice, depleted of the cohesin subunit Rec8 are defective in the formation of the axial elements (AEs) of the SC, suggesting that, in mammals, this function is not conserved. In this paper, we show that spermatocytes from mice lacking the two meiosis-specific cohesin subunits RAD21L and REC8 were unable to initiate RAD51-but not DMC1-mediated double-strand break repair, were not able to assemble their AEs, and arrested as early as the leptotene stage of prophase I, demonstrating that cohesin plays an essential role in AE assembly that is conserved from yeast to mammals.

• 出版日期2012-6-25