Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Sex determination of the gonads begins with fate specification of gonadal supporting cells into either ovarian pre-granulosa cells or testicular Sertoli cells. This fate specification hinges on a balance of transcriptional control. Here we report that expression of the transcription factor RUNX1 is enriched in the fetal ovary in rainbow trout, turtle, mouse, goat, and human. In the mouse, RUNX1 marks the supporting cell lineage and becomes pre-granulosa cell-specific as the gonads differentiate. RUNX1 plays complementary/redundant roles with FOXL2 to maintain fetal granulosa cell identity and combined loss of RUNX1 and FOXL2 results in masculinization of fetal ovaries. At the chromatin level, RUNX1 occupancy overlaps partially with FOXL2 occupancy in the fetal ovary, suggesting that RUNX1 and FOXL2 target common sets of genes. These findings identify RUNX1, with an ovary-biased expression pattern conserved across species, as a regulator in securing the identity of ovarian-supporting cells and the ovary.
Source: Nature Communications
Institutions: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Inserm, École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, Institut de Recherche en Santé, Environnement et Travail, Université de Rennes, Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Laboratoire de Physiologie et Génomique des Poissons, Duke University, Duke Medical Center
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,200
Funders: National Science Foundation, University of Minnesota, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Weizmann Institute of Science, Université de Rennes 1, École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
OpenAlex ID: W2987413435