Aging predisposes oocytes to meiotic nondisjunction when the cohesin subunit SMC1 is reduced.

ABSTRACT: In humans, meiotic chromosome segregation errors increase dramatically as women age, but the molecular defects responsible are largely unknown. Cohesion along the arms of meiotic sister chromatids provides an evolutionarily conserved mechanism to keep recombinant chromosomes associated until anaphase I. One attractive hypothesis to explain age-dependent nondisjunction (NDJ) is that loss of cohesion over time causes recombinant homologues to dissociate prematurely and segregate randomly during the first meiotic division. Using Drosophila as a model system, we have tested this hypothesis and observe a significant increase in meiosis I NDJ in experimentally aged Drosophila oocytes when the cohesin protein SMC1 is reduced. Our finding that missegregation of recombinant homologues increases wit

SUBMITTER: Subramanian VV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2577922 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature