The SRY protein is a 223 residues long monomeric polypeptide [1]. It is a transcriptionnal factor, It activates the Müllerian Inhibiting Substance (MIS gene).
It is encoded by the testis-determining sex gene and is itself involved in the sex determination in mammels by being responsible for the male sexual developement.
History
After centuries of unfounded theories mainly based on environmental factors, the first molecular theory concerning the sex determination appeared in 1891. At this time, the german biologist Hermann Henking was studying sperm formation in wasps. As a chromosome which was not present in all the wasps looked different from the others, he suspected it to play a role in sex determination and called it the "X chromosome".
Ten years later, Clarence Erwin McClung saw that this chromosome behaved differently during the meiosis and was only present in half the sperm cells of grasshoppers. As the main characteristic that varies in 50/50 proportions among zygotes is the sex, McClung suspected the X chromosome to be implicated in sexual development.
In 1905, Nettie Stevens discovered the "Y chromosome" (and the female XX and male XY patterns) while she was counting the chromosomes of beetles under the microscope[2].
During the next decades, a few theories were in competition. In 1921, Calvin Bridges's works on Drosophila melanogaster seemed to reveal that male characters acquisition is due to a genic balance between the genes contained in the X chromosome and those contained in the autosomes[3].
In 1930, Ronald Fisher introduced the first Y-based control of sex theory by proposing two different models : either all the genes responsible for the male characters are located on the Y chromosome or there is a Y-located gene which regulates the expression of genes elsewhere in the genome[4].
As Alfred Jost had shown the testosterone produced by the testis is responsible for the entire male phenotype acquisition[5], in 1988, Peter Neville Goodfellow proposed that there is a gene (TDF in human, Tdy in mice) on the Y chromosome which drives the development of the testis.[6] In 1990, Goodfellow's hypothesis was validated with the discovery of Tdy's localisation. This gene's product (expressed during the male gonadal development) owns an amino-acid motif showing homology to other known or putative DNA-binding domains. Tdy is therefore a transcriptional factor[7]. The same year, the human SRY gene (accepted later as the TDF) was discovered[8].
Three dimensional structure of the SRY protein was determined in 1995 using NMR spectroscopy[9]
SRY gene
The SRY gene encodes the SRY protein. It is located on the Y chromosom.
Structure
The SRY-HMG domain
SRY-HMG stands for Sex determining Region Y - High Mobility Group domain.
It is a approximately 80 residues long. It mediates the binding of a protein to the minor groove of DNA.
It has a Twisted L shape meaning that it has a long arm (28Å) and a short arm (22Å). The HMG Box is made of 3 helices, its N-term and C-term are irregular.
2 kinds of HMG domain:
General structure of SRY
3 domains:
- N-term domain
- Central domain
- C-term domain
Structure of the DNA target site
Function
Sex determining
It acts like a sex determinator thanks to it transcriptionnal activity. It inhibits the developpement of female sex structure in th embryonnic individual.
Implication - Future for SRY ?
Disease
It has been shown that a mutation of SRY increase male to female sex reversal for 15% REF NECESSAIRE
Relevance
Structural highlights
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