Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
6
pubmed:dateCreated
1995-2-28
pubmed:abstractText
We have used multicolour fluorescence in situ hybridization to study the behaviour of the X and Y chromosomes in relation to a representative autosome, chromosome 1, on air-dried testicular preparations from normal fertile human males. In a proportion of Sertoli cells at interphase as well as spermatogonial metaphases there is an apparent selective undercondensation of the heterochromatic block of the long arm of the Y, which may be of functional significance with respect to Y-specific gene activity, initiating and maintaining spermatogenesis; we suggest that this may involve a mechanism similar to heterochromatin position-effect variegation in Drosophila. In the supporting Sertoli as well as pre-meiotic and leptotene cells the X and Y occupy relatively restricted domains at opposite poles of the nuclear membrane, while the chromosome 1 centromere regions are located interstitially and appear prealigned. The XY pairing and 'sex vesicle' formation comprises a complex series of spatial movement and differential condensation patterns. On the basis of these observations we propose that: the XIST/Xist gene, known to be involved in somatic X inactivation, imposes a chromatin reorganization leading to bending at the X-inactivation centre both at first meiotic prophase in males and in the soma in females; and the differential X and Y segments are protected from potentially deleterious meiotic exchanges by their separate spatial orientation. In addition, there is an indication that the timing of pairing and first meiotic segregation of the sex chromosomes is different, and precocious in comparison to the pairing and segregation of the autosomes, which may explain the high incidence of sex chromosome aneuploidy in sperm.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
0967-3849
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
2
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
445-52
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1994
pubmed:articleTitle
XY chromosome behaviour in the germ-line of the human male: a FISH analysis of spatial orientation, chromatin condensation and pairing.
pubmed:affiliation
LFS Research Unit, West Midlands Regional Genetic Services, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, UK.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study