DNA demethylation-dependent AR recruitment and GATA factors drive Rhox5 homeobox gene transcription in the epididymis.

ABSTRACT: Mammalian male fertility depends on the epididymis, a highly segmented organ that promotes sperm maturation and protects sperm from oxidative damage. Remarkably little is known about how gene expression is controlled in the epididymis. A candidate to regulate genes crucial for epididymal function is reproductive homeobox gene on X chromosome (RHOX)5, a homeobox transcription factor essential for optimal sperm motility that is expressed in the caput region of the epididymis. Here, we report the identification of factors that control Rhox5 gene expression in epididymal cells in a developmentally regulated and region-specific fashion. First, we identify GATA transcription factor-binding sites in the Rhox5 proximal promoter (Pp) necessary for Rhox5 expression in epididymal cells in vitro and i

SUBMITTER: Bhardwaj A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3327359 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature