Project description:Purpose: In this study we employed unbiased, genome wide techniques to identify novel enhancers of Sox9 that may cause Disorders of Sex Development (DSDs) when disrupted in the mouse. Methods: We performed ATAC-seq on 60K FACS-purified gonadal cells before and after sex determination to map nucleosome depleted regions (NDRs) indicative of regulatory elements. We then selected 16 putative enhancers present in Sertoli cells. To determine whether these are active enhancers, we performed ChIP-seq for H3K27ac, a histone modification that marks active enhancers. Transient transgenics was performed on select enhancers to determine whether they drive Sertoli-specific expression in vivo. Finally, we selected a single active Sertoli-specific enhancer to delete with CRISPR. Results: We identified a single enhancer upstream of Sox9 that causes complete male-to-female sex reversal in mice when deleted. Conclusions: Our study is the first to identify a single enhacer supstream of Sox9 which drives Sertoli-specific expression in vivo and causes complete male-to-female sex reversal when deleted in the mouse. Furthermore, this enhancer overlaps a region in humans (XY SR) associated to DSDs.
Project description:The transcription factor Sox9 (Sry-Related HMG-Box gene 9) is essential in chondrogenesis. The expression Sox9 is regulated by 1.5Mb long range genomic region in temporospatial manner and genome translocation or deletion which affect Sox9 expression cause campomelic dysplasia (CD), characterized by skeletal malformations. Although functional mechanism of Sox9 are well studied so far, regulatory mechanism of Sox9 expression and its related enhancer in chondrocytes are largely remains to be elucidated. The purpose of this study is to identify Sox9 enhancers in chondrocytes
Project description:The transcription factor Sox9 (Sry-Related HMG-Box gene 9) is essential in chondrogenesis. The expression Sox9 is regulated by 1.5Mb long range genomic region in temporospatial manner and genome translocation or deletion which affect Sox9 expression cause campomelic dysplasia (CD), characterized by skeletal malformations. Although functional mechanism of Sox9 are well studied so far, regulatory mechanism of Sox9 expression and its related enhancer in chondrocytes are largely remains to be elucidated. The purpose of this study is to identify Sox9 enhancers in chondrocytes
Project description:The transcription factor Sox9 (Sry-Related HMG-Box gene 9) is essential in chondrogenesis. The expression Sox9 is regulated by 1.5Mb long range genomic region in temporospatial manner and genome translocation or deletion which affect Sox9 expression cause campomelic dysplasia (CD), characterized by skeletal malformations. Although functional mechanism of Sox9 are well studied so far, regulatory mechanism of Sox9 expression and its related enhancer in chondrocytes are largely remains to be elucidated. The purpose of this study is to identify Sox9 enhancers in chondrocytes
Project description:In mammals, gonadal differentiation is the first step of sex determination, and the transcription factor Sox9 promotes testis differentiation. Here we used the XY Sox9flox/flox; Sf1:creTr/+ mouse model and show that the lack of Sox9 expression induces a full sex reversal of E13.5 XY Sox9flox/flox; Sf1:creTr/+ gonads compared to XY Sox9flox/flox. Keywords: gonads gene expression profiling in WT and Sox9flox/flox; Sf1:creTr/+ mice
Project description:In mammals, gonadal differentiation is the first step of sex determination, and the transcription factor Sox9 promotes testis differentiation. Here we used the XY Sox9flox/flox; Sf1:creTr/+ mouse model and show that the lack of Sox9 expression induces a full sex reversal of E13.5 XY Sox9flox/flox; Sf1:creTr/+ gonads compared to XY Sox9flox/flox. Keywords: gonads gene expression profiling in WT and Sox9flox/flox; Sf1:creTr/+ mice 3 WT versus 3 Sox9flox/flox; Sf1:creTr/+ mice.
Project description:Foxl2 is a forkhead transcription factor essential for proper reproductive function in females. It is expressed in the somatic cell population of the gonad (granulosa cells) which forms the follicles of the ovary, the structures responsible for embedding and nurturing the oocytes during their development. FOXL2 directly regulate the aromatase that synthesizes estrogens CYP19A1, thus promoting female differentiation, as well as acting as a repressor of the male factors SOX9 and DMRT1.Expression is also found in the eyelids, pituitary gland and uterus. In the goat, frog and many fish species FOXL2 is a sex-determining gene which, when deleted, leads to female-to-male sex reversal.
Project description:Transcription factor SOX9 is essential for the differentiation of chondrocytes and the development of testes. Heterozygous point mutations and genomic deletions involving SOX9 lead to campomelic dysplasia (CD) often associated with sex reversal. Chromosomal rearrangements with breakpoints mapping up to 1.3 Mb up- and downstream to SOX9, and likely disrupting its distant cis-regulatory elements, have been described in patients with milder forms of CD. Performing chromosome conformation capture-on-chip (4C) analysis in Sertoli cells and lymphoblasts we identified several novel potentially cis-interacting regions both up- and downstream to SOX9, with some of them overlapping lncRNA genes preferentially expressed in testes.
Project description:Transcription factor SOX9 is essential for the differentiation of chondrocytes and the development of testes. Heterozygous point mutations and genomic deletions involving SOX9 lead to campomelic dysplasia (CD) often associated with sex reversal. Chromosomal rearrangements with breakpoints mapping up to 1.3 Mb up- and downstream to SOX9, and likely disrupting its distant cis-regulatory elements, have been described in patients with milder forms of CD. Performing chromosome conformation capture-on-chip (4C) analysis in Sertoli cells and lymphoblasts we identified several novel potentially cis-interacting regions both up- and downstream to SOX9, with some of them overlapping lncRNA genes preferentially expressed in testes. Custom designed 3x720K tiling microarrays covering 4 Mb region (chr17:68,117,161-72,122,560) flanking SOX9 gene of interest