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Cloning and Expression Analysis of a Meiosis-Specific MutS Homolog: The HumanMSH4Gene

1997; Elsevier BV; Volume: 44; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1006/geno.1997.4857

1089-8646

Véronique Paquis‐Flucklinger, Sabine Santucci‐Darmanin, Rachel Paul, A. Saunières, Claude Turc‐Carel, Claude Desnuelle,

Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics

TheEscherichia coliMutHLS system has been highly conserved throughout evolution. The eukaryotic pathway results in a specialization of MutS homologs that have evolved to play crucial roles in both DNA mismatch repair and meiotic recombination. So far, meiosis-specific genes belonging to this family have only been identified in yeast. InSaccharomyces cerevisiae,MSH4 (MutS homolog 4) is a meiosis-specific protein that is not involved in mismatch correction. This protein is required for reciprocal recombination and proper segregation of homologous chromosomes at meiosis I. We have identified the humanMSH4homolog gene. The predicted amino acid sequence shows 28.7% identity with theS. cerevisiaeMSH4 protein. By Northern blot analysis, humanMSH4transcripts are only detectable in testis and in ovary with a lower level of expression. We have mappedMSH4to human chromosome 1 at band p31 by fluorescencein situhybridization. The identification of such a gene provides a powerful tool for clarifying the respective roles ofMSHandMLHgenes in mammalian meiosis.