SYCP3 explained

Synaptonemal complex protein 3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SYCP3 gene.^{[1] [2] [3]} It is a component of the synaptonemal complex formed between homologous chromosomes during the prophase of meiosis.^[4]

Gene family

SYCP3 is also known as COR1. It contains a conserved coiled-coil domain that is also found in the FAM9 (FAM9A, FAM9B) family of proteins, found on the human X chromosome.^[1]

Several SYCP3-like proteins are found on mice sex chromosomes. They are assigned names starting with Slx or Sly depending on the chromosome they are linked to. Slx/Slxl1 and Sly are neofunctionalized ones that have opposite effects on gene expression and epigenetic modifications, and each gene reduces the viability and mobility (via spindlin binding) of sperms containing the other sex chromosome, tilting the sex ratio to their own favor.^[5] Over time they are duplicated to balance out each other's effects.^[6]

Further reading

• Yuan L, Liu JG, Zhao J, Brundell E, Daneholt B, Höög C . The murine SCP3 gene is required for synaptonemal complex assembly, chromosome synapsis, and male fertility . Molecular Cell . 5 . 1 . 73–83 . January 2000 . 10678170 . 10.1016/S1097-2765(00)80404-9 . free .
• Suzuki H, Fukunishi Y, Kagawa I, Saito R, Oda H, Endo T, Kondo S, Bono H, Okazaki Y, Hayashizaki Y . 6 . Protein-protein interaction panel using mouse full-length cDNAs . Genome Research . 11 . 10 . 1758–65 . October 2001 . 11591653 . 311163 . 10.1101/gr.180101 .
• Lee J, Iwai T, Yokota T, Yamashita M . Temporally and spatially selective loss of Rec8 protein from meiotic chromosomes during mammalian meiosis . Journal of Cell Science . 116 . Pt 13 . 2781–90 . July 2003 . 12759374 . 10.1242/jcs.00495 . 11040339 .
• Miyamoto T, Hasuike S, Yogev L, Maduro MR, Ishikawa M, Westphal H, Lamb DJ . Azoospermia in patients heterozygous for a mutation in SYCP3 . Lancet . 362 . 9397 . 1714–9 . November 2003 . 14643120 . 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14845-3 . 44513816 .
• de Boer P, Giele M, Lock MT, de Rooij DG, Giltay J, Hochstenbach R, te Velde ER . Kinetics of meiosis in azoospermic males: a joint histological and cytological approach . Cytogenetic and Genome Research . 105 . 1 . 36–46 . 2004 . 15218256 . 10.1159/000078007 . 1874/11543 . 26325415 . free .
• Stouffs K, Lissens W, Tournaye H, Van Steirteghem A, Liebaers I . SYCP3 mutations are uncommon in patients with azoospermia . Fertility and Sterility . 84 . 4 . 1019–20 . October 2005 . 16213863 . 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2005.04.033 .
• Aarabi M, Modarressi MH, Soltanghoraee H, Behjati R, Amirjannati N, Akhondi MM . Testicular expression of synaptonemal complex protein 3 (SYCP3) messenger ribonucleic acid in 110 patients with nonobstructive azoospermia . Fertility and Sterility . 86 . 2 . 325–31 . August 2006 . 16824523 . 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2005.12.070 . free .
• Sapkota G, Knockaert M, Alarcón C, Montalvo E, Brivanlou AH, Massagué J . Dephosphorylation of the linker regions of Smad1 and Smad2/3 by small C-terminal domain phosphatases has distinct outcomes for bone morphogenetic protein and transforming growth factor-beta pathways . The Journal of Biological Chemistry . 281 . 52 . 40412–9 . December 2006 . 17085434 . 10.1074/jbc.M610172200 . free .
• Martínez J, Bonache S, Carvajal A, Bassas L, Larriba S . Mutations of SYCP3 are rare in infertile Spanish men with meiotic arrest . Fertility and Sterility . 88 . 4 . 988–9 . October 2007 . 17434513 . 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2006.11.163 . free .

Notes and References

1. Martinez-Garay I, Jablonka S, Sutajova M, Steuernagel P, Gal A, Kutsche K . A new gene family (FAM9) of low-copy repeats in Xp22.3 expressed exclusively in testis: implications for recombinations in this region . Genomics . 80 . 3 . 259–67 . September 2002 . 12213195 . 10.1006/geno.2002.6834 .
2. Mallon AM, Platzer M, Bate R, Gloeckner G, Botcherby MR, Nordsiek G, Strivens MA, Kioschis P, Dangel A, Cunningham D, Straw RN, Weston P, Gilbert M, Fernando S, Goodall K, Hunter G, Greystrong JS, Clarke D, Kimberley C, Goerdes M, Blechschmidt K, Rump A, Hinzmann B, Mundy CR, Miller W, Poustka A, Herman GE, Rhodes M, Denny P, Rosenthal A, Brown SD . 6 . Comparative genome sequence analysis of the Bpa/Str region in mouse and Man . Genome Research . 10 . 6 . 758–75 . June 2000 . 10854409 . 310879 . 10.1101/gr.10.6.758 .
3. Web site: Entrez Gene: SYCP3 synaptonemal complex protein 3.
4. Syrjänen JL, Pellegrini L, Davies OR . A molecular model for the role of SYCP3 in meiotic chromosome organisation . eLife . 3 . June 2014 . 24950965 . 4102245 . 10.7554/eLife.02963 . free .
5. Cocquet J, Ellis PJ, Mahadevaiah SK, Affara NA, Vaiman D, Burgoyne PS . A genetic basis for a postmeiotic X versus Y chromosome intragenomic conflict in the mouse . PLOS Genetics . 8 . 9 . e1002900 . September 2012 . 23028340 . 3441658 . 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002900 . free .
6. Kruger AN, Brogley MA, Huizinga JL, Kidd JM, de Rooij DG, Hu YC, Mueller JL . A Neofunctionalized X-Linked Ampliconic Gene Family Is Essential for Male Fertility and Equal Sex Ratio in Mice . Current Biology . 29 . 21 . 3699–3706.e5 . October 2019 . 31630956 . 10.1016/j.cub.2019.08.057 . 7012382 .