Inactivation of mammalian X-chromosome during spermatogenesis: temporal expression of genes in the laboratory mouse

Abstract

At zygotene/pachytene stage of meiosis in mammalian testis, the X-Y heterobivalent is sequesterd into a heterochromatinized body whose genetic inactivity is shown by lack of uridine incorporation. For the genic level evaluation of the X-inactivation, activities of three X-linked genes were assayed in testicular cell types in the laboratory mouse. While hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase is functional at least up to pachytene stage of primary spermatocytes, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase appears to be active only in the Sertoli cells. No transcript of the muscle specific muscular dystrophin gene was obtained from its regular 5' promoter. Thus, inactivation of X-linked genes in testis occurs at different stages during spermatogenesis, independently of heterochrornatinizati on of the XY-body. We propose that Xist transcript, the putative regulator of X-inactivation in female soma, is also the regulator in testis. However, due to its extremely low level in testis the transcript may regulate by "spreading" in a gradient and affect the genes in a temporal order. Thus, besides other factors, physical proximity of the genes to Xist may determine the stage of their inactivation.