Fujiwara Y, Komiya T, Kawabata H, Sato M, Fujimoto H, Furusawa M, Noce T
Furusawa Morphogene Project, ERATO, Research Development Corporation of Japan (JRDC), Tokyo.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1994 Dec 6;91(25):12258-62. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.25.12258.
In an effort to study the molecular basis of the determination processes of the mammalian germ cell lineage, we have tried to isolate a mouse gene homolog to vasa, which plays an essential role as a maternal determining factor for the formation of Drosophila germ cell precursors. By reverse transcriptase PCRs of mouse primordial germ cell cDNAs using family-specific primers, we obtained a gene (Mvh) encoding a DEAD-family protein that showed a much higher degree of similarity with the product of the Drosophila vasa gene (vas) than previously reported mouse genes. In adult tissues, Mvh transcripts were exclusively detected in testicular germ cells, in which Mvh protein was found to be localized in cytoplasm of spermatocytes and round spermatids including a perinuclear granule. The protein was also expressed in germ cells colonized in embryonic gonads but was not detected in pluripotential embryonic cells such as stem cells and germ cells. These results suggest the possibility that the Mvh protein may play an important role in the determination events of mouse germ cells as in the case of Drosophila vasa.
为了研究哺乳动物生殖细胞谱系决定过程的分子基础，我们试图分离出一个与果蝇vasa基因同源的小鼠基因，vasa基因作为母体决定因子，在果蝇生殖细胞前体的形成过程中发挥着至关重要的作用。通过使用家族特异性引物对小鼠原始生殖细胞cDNA进行逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR），我们获得了一个编码DEAD家族蛋白的基因（Mvh），该基因与果蝇vasa基因（vas）的产物相比，与先前报道的小鼠基因具有更高的相似性。在成年组织中，仅在睾丸生殖细胞中检测到Mvh转录本，其中发现Mvh蛋白定位于精母细胞和圆形精子细胞的细胞质中，包括一个核周颗粒。该蛋白也在定殖于胚胎性腺的生殖细胞中表达，但在多能胚胎细胞如干细胞和生殖细胞中未检测到。这些结果表明，Mvh蛋白可能像果蝇vasa一样，在小鼠生殖细胞的决定事件中发挥重要作用。
