This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Pilon, N. Articles by Silversides, D. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Pilon, N. Articles by Silversides, D. W.

Porcine Steroidogenic Factor-1 Gene (pSF-1) Expression and Analysis of Embryonic Pig Gonads during Sexual Differentiation¹

Centre de Recherche en Reproduction Animale, Department of Veterinary Biomedicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Montréal, St.-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada J2S 7C6

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. David W. Silversides, CRRA, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Montréal, St.-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada J2S 7C6. E-mail: silverdw{at}medvet.umontreal.ca

The porcine steroidogenic factor-1 gene (pSF-1) was cloned using a combination of genomic and RT-PCR based cloning methods. pSF-1 consists of an open reading frame of 1383 nt corresponding to a deduced amino acid sequence of 461 aa, similar to bovine and human SF-1. Sequence homologies between pSF-1 and human, bovine and mouse molecules indicate strong evolutionary conservation at both the nt and aa levels. Northern analysis of pSF-1 expression in adult steroidogenic tissues correlated with porcine steroidogenic acute regulatory protein gene (pStAR) and porcine side chain cleavage (pP450_scc) gene expression. Notably, pSF-1 expression was readily detected in neonatal testes, absent at 3 weeks of age, and again readily detected at 3 months and in adult testes. pSF-1 expression was weak but detectable in placental tissues at various times of gestation, and was correlated with pStAR and pP450_scc expression, indicating classical steroidogenesis in this organ. In developing gonads from 6–12 weeks of gestation, i.e. during the time of sex differentiation in the pig, Northern analysis demonstrated increasing expression of pSF-1 in fetal testes and no expression in ovaries. This expression pattern was paralleled for pStAR, pP450_scc, and porcine Müllerian inhibitory substance (pMIS), consistent with pSF-1 involvement in both steroid and protein hormone secretions of the developing testes during sex differentiation. Porcine SRY HMG-box related gene-9 (pSOX-9) expression also paralleled that of pSF-1 in developing testes. In contrast, DSS-AHC critical region on the X chromosome, gene 1 (pDAX-1) was expressed predominantly in the developing ovaries, indicating a possible reciprocal regulation of pSF-1 and pDAX-1 genes in developing pig testes and ovaries.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G.-C. Wu, S. Tomy, and C.-F. Chang The Expression of nr0b1 and nr5a4 During Gonad Development and Sex Change in Protandrous Black Porgy Fish, Acanthopagrus schlegeli Biol Reprod, February 1, 2008; 78(2): 200 - 210. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S Kuntz, D Chardard, C-I Ko, H Dumond, M Ducatez, M Callier, S Flament, and A Chesnel Female-enriched and thermosensitive expression of steroidogenic factor-1 during gonadal differentiation in Pleurodeles waltl J. Mol. Endocrinol., February 1, 2006; 36(1): 175 - 186. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. D. Quirke, J. L. Juengel, D. J. Tisdall, S. Lun, D. A. Heath, and K. P. McNatty Ontogeny of Steroidogenesis in the Fetal Sheep Gonad Biol Reprod, July 1, 2001; 65(1): 216 - 228. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Watanabe, T. R. Clarke, A. H. Lane, X. Wang, and P. K. Donahoe Endogenous expression of Mullerian inhibiting substance in early postnatal rat Sertoli cells requires multiple steroidogenic factor-1 and GATA-4-binding sites PNAS, February 15, 2000; 97(4): 1624 - 1629. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Parma, E. Pailhoux, and C. Cotinot Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction Analysis of Genes Involved in Gonadal Differentiation in Pigs Biol Reprod, September 1, 1999; 61(3): 741 - 748. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				J. J. Tremblay and R. S. Viger Transcription Factor GATA-4 Enhances Mullerian Inhibiting Substance Gene Transcription through a Direct Interaction with the Nuclear Receptor SF-1 Mol. Endocrinol., August 1, 1999; 13(8): 1388 - 1401. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				A. Swain and R. Lovell-Badge Mammalian sex determination: a molecular drama Genes & Dev., April 1, 1999; 13(7): 755 - 767. [Full Text]