Functional Equivalence of the SOX2 and SOX3 Transcription Factors in the Developing Mouse Brain and Testes

Genetics
Fatwa AdikusumaPaul Thomas

Abstract

Gene duplication provides spare genetic material that evolution can craft into new functions. Sox2 and Sox3 are evolutionarily related genes with overlapping and unique sites of expression during embryogenesis. It is currently unclear whether SOX2 and SOX3 have identical or different functions. Here, we use CRISPR/Cas9-assisted mutagenesis to perform a gene-swap, replacing the Sox3 ORF with the Sox2 ORF to investigate their functional equivalence in the brain and testes. We show that increased expression of SOX2 can functionally replace SOX3 in the development of the infundibular recess/ventral diencephalon, and largely rescues pituitary gland defects that occur in Sox3 null mice. We also show that ectopic expression of SOX2 in the testes functionally rescues the spermatogenic defect of Sox3 null mice, and restores gene expression to near normal levels. Together, these in vivo data provide strong evidence that SOX2 and SOX3 proteins are functionally equivalent.

References

Nov 10, 2000·Science·M Lynch, J S Conery
Aug 14, 2003·Gene Expression Patterns : GEP·Dario AcamporaAntonio Simeone
Sep 2, 2003·Neuron·Victoria GrahamLarysa Pevny
Oct 1, 2003·Nature Neuroscience·Magdalena BylundJonas Muhr
Feb 26, 2004·Nature Genetics·Karine RizzotiRobin Lovell-Badge
Jan 25, 2005·BioEssays : News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology·Andreas Wagner
Aug 26, 2006·The Journal of Clinical Investigation·Daniel KelbermanMehul T Dattani
Jun 23, 2007·Briefings in Functional Genomics & Proteomics·Ivana BarbaricT Neil Dear
Dec 7, 2007·Nature Biotechnology·Masato NakagawaShinya Yamanaka
Nov 17, 2011·Genes & Development·Maria BergslandJonas Muhr
May 15, 2013·Gene Expression Patterns : GEP·Nicholas RogersPaul Thomas
Mar 17, 2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Sanjay BasuZach N Adelman
Aug 12, 2015·SpringerPlus·Pike-See Cheah, Paul Q Thomas

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Dec 20, 2017·ELife·Andrea CorsinottiIan Chambers
Dec 7, 2017·PloS One·Fatwa AdikusumaPaul Quinton Thomas
Jul 13, 2019·Nature Communications·José M Santos-PereiraJuan J Tena
Apr 5, 2018·Journal of Developmental Biology·Dagmara KoronaSteven Russell
Mar 28, 2019·Frontiers in Physiology·Maria Sanz-NavarroDavid P Rice
Jun 1, 2018·Development·Daoqin ZhangChunsheng Han
Nov 10, 2020·Reproduction, Fertility, and Development·Dale McAninchPaul Q Thomas
Aug 4, 2021·Stem Cell Reviews and Reports·Martin PiskacekAndrea Knight

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

CRISPR Ribonucleases Deactivation

CRISPR-Cas system enables the editing of genes to create or correct mutations. This feed focuses on mechanisms that underlie deactivation of CRISPR ribonucleases. Here is the latest research.

CRISPR (general)

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) are DNA sequences in the genome that are recognized and cleaved by CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas). CRISPR-Cas system enables the editing of genes to create or correct mutations. Discover the latest research on CRISPR here.

CRISPR for Genome Editing

Genome editing technologies enable the editing of genes to create or correct mutations. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) are DNA sequences in the genome that are recognized and cleaved by CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas). Here is the latest research on the use of CRISPR-Cas system in gene editing.