L24 Sex chromosomes and sex determination Flashcards
Disorders of Sex Development (DSD)
see onenote
- defined as congenital conditions in which development of chromosomal, gonadal or anatomical sex is atypical
- most common birth defect in humans
- DSD is rapidly increasing
- fertility is rapidly decreasing
- most forms of DSD remain unexplained genetically - environment?
What are DSD?
- 4 points
Discordance between any aspect of sexual phenotype:
- genetic sex
- gonadal sex
- phenotypic sex
- brain sex
Clinical presentation of DSD
- birth
- adolescence
DSD recognised at birth
- indeterminate sex (ambiguous genitalia)
DSD recognised in adolescence
- a girl with testes or dysgenetic gonads and a Y chromosome
- SRY or SF1 mutation
Difficult to diagnose and to treat
Difficult decisions are required in DSD management
see onenote
- gender assignment vs gender identity
- genital surgery on infants
- unable to consent for themselves
- removal or not of gonads; cancer risk
Discordance of Genetic sex
- the types
see onenote
XY females
XX males
XXY Kleinfelters
XO Turners
Genetic sex determination
- translocation of SRY
see onenote
- sex chromosome evolved from autosomes
- PAR (pseudoautosomal region) important for segregation
- SRY sometimes recombined to X
Sex chromosomes abnormalities
see onenote slides and diagram
- single X required for male development
- 2 X required for normal female development
- small % of genes escape x-inactivation and x-imprinted genes
- dosage of the pseudoautosomal region
Early gonad differentiation in the mouse embryo
see onenote slides
Regulatory networks during sex determination
see onenote
SRY - conservation
see onenote
- SRY is poorly conserved
- only found in some mammal groups
- SOX9 highly conserved
- autosomal
SRY switch gene
see onenote
- single exon gene
- high mobility group (HMG) box
- binds to DNA and bends it
- structural protein
- poorly conserved
- expressed in testes
SRY - Randy
- XX mouse with SRY transgene
- developed testes
- male behaviour
- male secondary sexual characteristics
- but infertile…why?
SRY and SOX9 in mouse gonads
see onenote
- SRY transient expression in males only (Y)
- ~12 hours in mouse
- triggers up-regulation of SOX9 (autosomal)
SOX9 - the testis determinant
see onenote
- has SRY-like HMG-box containing gene #9
- mutations throughout the gene, unlike in SRY
- highly conserved between species >90%
- expressed in developing cartilage and testes
- autosomal - needed in both male and female
Campomelic dysplasia and XY sex reversal
- severe deficiency in cartilage formation - skeletal defects
- due to mutations in sox9
- 75% of CD patients are XY sex reversed females
- sox9 plays critical role in testis development