Human SOX3 blocking peptide

Objective: To clarify the molecular basis of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH). Design: Genome-wide copy number analysis by array-based comparative genomic hybridization and systematic mutation screening of 29 known causative genes by next-generation sequencing, followed by in silico functional assessment and messenger RNA/DNA analyses of the mutants/variants. Setting: Research institute. Patient(s): Fifty-eight patients with isolated HH (IHH), combined pituitary hormone deficiency (CPHD), and syndromic HH. Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): Frequency and character of molecular abnormalities. Result(s): Pathogenic defects were identified in 14 patients with various types of HH, although oligogenicity was not evident in this patient group. As rare abnormalities, we identified a submicroscopic deletion involving FGFR1 and an SOX3 polyalanine deletion in patients with IHH, and a WDR11 splice site mutation in a patient with CPHD. No disease-associated polymorphism was detected in the 58 patients. Conclusion(s): The present study provides further evidence that mutations and deletions in the known causative genes play a relatively minor role in the etiology of HH and that submicroscopic rearrangements encompassing FGFR1 can lead to IHH as a sole recognizable clinical feature. Furthermore, the results indicate for the first time that polyalanine deletions in SOX3 and mutations in WDR11 constitute rare genetic causes of IHH and CPHD, respectively. (C) 2014 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is subject to sex-specific modulation by hormones and gene products. However, sex differences in the balance between the vasoconstrictor/proliferative ACE/ANG II/AT1 axis, and the vasodilator/antiproliferative ACE2/ANG-(1-7)/MAS axis are poorly known. Data in the rat have suggested the malespecific Y-chromosome gene Sry to contribute to balance between these two axes, but why the testis-determining gene has these functions remains unknown. A combination of in silico genetic/protein comparisons, functional luciferase assays for promoters of the human RAS, and RNA-Seq profiling in rat were used to address if regulation of Sry on the RAS is conserved in the homologous X-chromosome gene, Sox3. Both SRY and SOX3 upregulated the promoter of Angiotensinogen (AGT) and downregulated the promoters of ACE2, AT2, and MAS, likely through overlapping mechanisms. The regulation by both SRY and SOX3 on the MAS promoter indicates a cis regulation through multiple SOX binding sites. The Renin (REN) promoter is upregulated by SRY and downregulated by SOX3, likely through trans and cis mechanisms, respectively. Sry transcripts are found in all analyzed male rat tissues including the kidney, while Sox3 transcripts are found only in the brain and testis, suggesting that the primary tissue for renin production (kidney) can only be regulated by SRY and not SOX3. These results suggest that SRY regulation of the RAS is partially shared with its X-chromosome homolog SOX3, but SRY gained a sex-specific control in the kidney for the rate-limiting step of the RAS, potentially resulting in male-specific blood pressure regulation.