The murine Sry gene encodes a nuclear transcriptional activator
- New York Univ. Medical Center, NY (United States)
The Sry gene functions as a genetic switch in gonadal ridge initiating testis determination. The murine Sry and human SRY open reading frames (ORF) share a conserved 79 amino acid motif, the HMG-box, that binds DNA. Outside this region the two genes share no additional homology. These studies were undertaken to determine whether the Sry/SRY genes encode nuclear transcriptional regulators. As judged by the accumulation of lacZ-SRY hybrid proteins in the nucleus, both the human and murine SRY ORFs contain a nuclear localization signal. The murine Sry HMG-box selectively binds the sequence NACAAT in vitro when presented with a random pool of oligonucleotides and binds AACAAT with the highest affinity. The murine Sry ORF, when expressed in HeLa cells, activates transcription of a reporter gene containing multiple copies of the AACAAT binding site. Activation was observed for a GAL4-responsive gene when the murine Sry ORF was linked to the DNA-binding domain of GAL4. Using this system, the activation function was mapped to a C-terminal glutamine/histidine-rich domain. In addition, LexA-Sry fusion genes activated a LexA-responsive gene in yeast. In contrast, a GAL4-human SRY fusion gene did not cause transcriptional activation. These studies suggest that both the human and mouse SRY ORFs encode nuclear, DNA-binding proteins, and that the mouse Sry ORF can function as a transcriptional activator with separable DNA-binding and activator domains.
- OSTI ID:
- 133830
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-941009--
- Journal Information:
- American Journal of Human Genetics, Journal Name: American Journal of Human Genetics Journal Issue: Suppl.3 Vol. 55; ISSN AJHGAG; ISSN 0002-9297
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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