Global survey of protein expression during gonadal sex determination in mice

Mol Cell Proteomics. 2009 Dec;8(12):2624-41. doi: 10.1074/mcp.M900108-MCP200. Epub 2009 Jul 17.

Abstract

The development of an embryo as male or female depends on differentiation of the gonads as either testes or ovaries. A number of genes are known to be important for gonadal differentiation, but our understanding of the regulatory networks underpinning sex determination remains fragmentary. To advance our understanding of sexual development beyond the transcriptome level, we performed the first global survey of the mouse gonad proteome at the time of sex determination by using two-dimensional nanoflow LC-MS/MS. The resulting data set contains a total of 1037 gene products (154 non-redundant and 883 redundant proteins) identified from 620 peptides. Functional classification and biological network construction suggested that the identified proteins primarily serve in RNA post-transcriptional modification and trafficking, protein synthesis and folding, and post-translational modification. The data set contains potential novel regulators of gonad development and sex determination not revealed previously by transcriptomics and proteomics studies and more than 60 proteins with potential links to human disorders of sexual development.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chromosome Mapping
  • Chromosomes, Mammalian / genetics
  • Disorders of Sex Development / genetics
  • Embryo, Mammalian / metabolism
  • Expressed Sequence Tags
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental*
  • Gonads / embryology*
  • Gonads / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Organ Specificity / genetics
  • Proteins / classification
  • Proteins / genetics*
  • Proteins / metabolism*
  • Proteomics
  • Sex Determination Processes*
  • Sex Differentiation / genetics
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Proteins