Role of H3K9 methylation and demethylation enzymes in mouse sex determination

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26890018
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Genome biology
• Research Institution: The University of Tokushima
• Principal Investigator: KUROKI Shunsuke 徳島大学, 疾患酵素学研究センター, 助教 (50735793)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-08-29 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 性決定

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We previously reported male-to-female sex reversal in H3K9 demethylase Jmjd1a knockout mice. However the involvement of other H3K9me-regulating enzymes in sex determination was unknown. We compare the consequence of combined loss of Jmjd1a and GLP on the sex-reversal phenotype. Loss of even a single GLP allele could rescue the sex-reversal phenotype in Jmjd1a-deficient background, which is accompanied by increase of Sry expression, indicating the functional antagonism between Jmjd1a and GLP. On the other hand, loss of a Jmjd1b single could allele accelerate the sex-reversal in Jmjd1a-deficient mice, indicating the overlapping role of Jmjd1b in mouse sex determination. These results suggest the fine tuning of H3K9 methylation level by methylases and demethylases is vital for mouse sex determination.

Free Research Field

分子生物学