Mouse MutS-like protein Msh5 is required for proper chromosome synapsis in male and female meiosis
- Sandra S. de Vries,
- Esther B. Baart,
- Marleen Dekker,
- Ariaan Siezen,
- Dirk G. de Rooij,
- Peter de Boer, and
- Hein te Riele
- Division of Molecular Carcinogenesis, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, 1066 CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences, 6709 PG Wageningen, The Netherlands; Department of Cell Biology, Utrecht University Medical School, 1066 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands
Abstract
Members of the mammalian mismatch repair protein family of MutS and MutL homologs have been implicated in postreplicative mismatch correction and chromosome interactions during meiotic recombination. Here we demonstrate that mice carrying a disruption in MutShomolog Msh5 show a meiotic defect, leading to male and female sterility. Histological and cytological examination of prophase I stages in both sexes revealed an extended zygotene stage, characterized by impaired and aberrant chromosome synapsis, that was followed by apoptotic cell death. Thus, murine Msh5 promotes synapsis of homologous chromosomes in meiotic prophase I.
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Footnotes
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↵Corresponding authors.
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E-MAIL hriele{at}nki.nl; FAX 31-20 512 1954.
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- Received October 8, 1998.
- Accepted January 11, 1999.
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
