Meiotic synapsis proceeds from a limited number of subtelomeric sites in the human male.

ABSTRACT: The formation of the synaptonemal complex (SC) is a crucial early step in the meiotic process, but relatively little is known about the establishment of the human SC. Accordingly, we recently initiated a study of synapsis in the human male, combining immunofluorescence and fluorescence in situ hybridization methodologies to analyze prophase spermatocytes from a series of control individuals. Our results indicate that synapsis is a tightly regulated process, with relatively little variation among individuals. On nonacrocentric chromosomes, there are two synaptic initiation sites, one on the distal short arm and one on the distal long arm, whereas acrocentric chromosomes exhibit a single site on the distal long arm. For both types of chromosomes, synapsis then proceeds toward the centromere,

SUBMITTER: Brown PW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1275605 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature