RESUMO
Differences between males and females are normally attributed to developmental and hormonal differences between the sexes. Here, we demonstrate differences between males and females in gene silencing using a heterochromatin-sensitive reporter gene. Using "sex-reversal" mouse models with varying sex chromosome complements, we found that this differential gene silencing was determined by X chromosome complement, rather than sex. Genome-wide transcription profiling showed that the expression of hundreds of autosomal genes was also sensitive to sex chromosome complement. These genome-wide analyses also uncovered a role for Sry in modulating autosomal gene expression in a sex chromosome complement-specific manner. The identification of this additional layer in the establishment of sexual dimorphisms has implications for understanding sexual dimorphisms in physiology and disease.
Assuntos
Proteínas do Sistema Complemento/genética , Transtornos do Desenvolvimento Sexual , Perfilação da Expressão Gênica , Regulação da Expressão Gênica , Cromossomos Sexuais/genética , Proteína da Região Y Determinante do Sexo/genética , Animais , Biomarcadores/metabolismo , Western Blotting , Proteínas do Sistema Complemento/metabolismo , Feminino , Citometria de Fluxo , Masculino , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Camundongos Endogâmicos CBA , Análise de Sequência com Séries de Oligonucleotídeos , RNA Mensageiro/genética , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase Via Transcriptase Reversa , Proteína da Região Y Determinante do Sexo/metabolismoRESUMO
It has been shown previously that a human CD2 (hCD2) disabled locus control region (LCR) transgene is unable to establish an open chromatin configuration in all the T cells, and this leads to position effect variegation of the transgene. In this study we show that thymus-specific overexpression of human high mobility group box transcription factor 1 (HBP1), a transcription factor that binds a specific sequence within the hCD2 LCR, affects thymus cellularity as well as the number of CD8(+) thymocytes in two independent transgenic mouse lines and increases the proportion of T cells that fully activate the transgenic locus in hCD2 variegating mice in a sequence-specific dependent manner. This finding suggests that overexpression of HBP1 can affect lineage commitment and can relieve the suppressive influence of heterochromatin, allowing thymocytes to express the variegating target locus more efficiently. These effects could be the result of direct HBP1 action on LCR activity. Alternatively, the extra HBP1 molecules may sequester repressive elements away from the LCR, thus allowing transcription permissive states to form on the transgene locus.