Journal article
Male-specific expression of Aldh1a1 in mouse and chicken fetal testes: Implications for retinoid balance in gonad development
J Bowles, CW Feng, D Knight, CA Smith, KN Roeszler, S Bagheri-Fam, VR Harley, AH Sinclair, P Koopman
Developmental Dynamics | Published : 2008
DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.22024
Abstract
Balanced production and degradation of retinoids is important in regulating development of several organ systems in the vertebrate embryo. Among these, it is known that retinoic acid (RA), and the retinoidcatabolyzing enzyme CYP26B1 together regulate the sex-specific behavior of germ cells in developing mouse gonads. We report here that the gene encoding a cytosolic class-1 aldehyde dehydrogenase, ALDH1A1, a weak catalyst of RA production, is strongly expressed in a male-specific manner in somatic cells of the developing mouse testis, beginning shortly after Sry expression is first detectable. This expression pattern is conserved in the developing male gonad of the chicken and is dependent o..
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Awarded by National Health & Medical Research Program
Funding Acknowledgements
Grant sponsor; Australian Research Council (ARC); Grant sponsor: National Health & Medical Research Program; Grant number: ID334314. We thank Malcom Maden for the chick Aldh1a1 probe, Andras Nagy for the X-linked GFP mouse line, and Hiroshi Hamada for the Cyp26b1 knockout mouse line. We thank Anne Hardacre and the IMB animal facility staff for assistance in animal care. P.K. is a Federation Fellow of the ARC. A.H.S., P.K., and V.R.H. were funded by the National Health & Medical Research Program.