性别决定相关因子的研究进展

The Research Progress of Sex Determination Mechanisms

有性生殖是多细胞生物的一个重要特征,最常见的就是人类的性染色体X和Y。性别决定(Sex determination)系统有着悠久的起源,在高等生物进化的历程中,不同物种采用的性别决定方式大相径庭,而同源转录因子在不同生物体内的功能和调控方式也是有区别的,比如DMRT转录因子家族,这说明性别决定机制具有高度多样性。本文介绍了近年来发现的具有代表性的性别决定相关的基因的发现过程,总结了性别决定相关转录调控因子的功能和结构方面的研究成果,从结构生物学视角来展望未来的研究方向,为进一步探索生物体内这一重大进程提供新思路。

Sexual reproduction is an important character of multicellular organisms, the most common example are the sex chro- mosome X and Y. Sex determination system has a long history, some transcription factors are highly homologous to the vertebrate, such as the DMRT transcription factors family; while among some various species, the functions and regulatory mechanisms of them are dif- ferent, which suggests that sex determination mechanism includes high diversity. In this article, we summarized representative researches about genes relating to sex determining and the functions and structures of transcriptional regulators, and also illustrated the feasibility of using means of structural biology to study this vital process in organisms.