Department of Genetics, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH, USA.
Adv Genet. 2011;76:93-134. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-386481-9.00004-3.
Previous work has firmly established the role for both GATA4 and FOG2 in the initial global commitment to sexual fate, but their (joint or individual) function in subsequent steps remained unknown. Hence, gonad-specific deletions of these genes in mice were required to reveal their roles in sexual development and gene regulation. The development of tissue-specific Cre lines allowed for substantial advances in the understanding of the function of GATA proteins in sex determination, gonadal differentiation and reproductive development in mice. Here we summarize the recent work that examined the requirement of GATA4 and FOG2 proteins at several critical stages in testis and ovarian differentiation. We also discuss the molecular mechanisms involved in this regulation through the control of Dmrt1 gene expression in the testis and the canonical Wnt/ß-catenin pathway in the ovary.
先前的工作已经明确了 GATA4 和 FOG2 在最初的性别决定中的作用，但它们在后续步骤中的（联合或单独）功能仍然未知。因此，需要在小鼠中特异性删除这些基因，以揭示它们在性发育和基因调控中的作用。组织特异性 Cre 线的发展极大地促进了我们对 GATA 蛋白在性别决定、性腺分化和小鼠生殖发育中的功能的理解。在这里，我们总结了最近的研究工作，这些工作研究了 GATA4 和 FOG2 蛋白在睾丸和卵巢分化的几个关键阶段的需求。我们还讨论了通过控制睾丸中的 Dmrt1 基因表达和卵巢中的经典 Wnt/β-catenin 途径来参与这种调控的分子机制。
