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Lack of checkpoint control at the metaphase/anaphase transition: A mechanism of meiotic nondisjunction in mammalian females
Author(s): Lemaire-Adkins R, Radke K, Hunt PA
Source: JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY    Volume: 139    Issue: 7    Pages: 1611-1619    Published: DEC 29 1997  
Times Cited: 133     References: 39     
Abstract: A checkpoint mechanism operates at the metaphase/anaphase transition to ensure that a bipolar spindle is formed and that all the chromosomes are aligned at the spindle equator before anaphase is initiated. Since mistakes in the segregation of chromosomes during meiosis have particularly disastrous consequences, it seems likely that the meiotic cell division would be characterized by a stringent metaphase/anaphase checkpoint. To determine if the presence of an unaligned chromosome activates the checkpoint and delays anaphase onset during mammalian female meiosis, we investigated meiotic cell cycle progression in murine oocytes from XO females and control siblings. Despite the fact that the X chromosome failed to align at metaphase in a significant proportion of cells, we were unable to detect a delay in anaphase onset. Based on studies of cell cycle kinetics, the behavior and segregation of the X chromosome, and the aberrant behavior and segregation of autosomal chromosomes in oocytes from XO females, we conclude that mammalian female meiosis lacks chromosome-mediated checkpoint control. The lack of this control mechanism provides a biological explanation for the high incidence of meiotic nondisjunction in the human female. Furthermore, since available evidence suggests that a stringent checkpoint mechanism operates during male meiosis, the lack of a comparable checkpoint in females provides a reason for the difference in the error rate between oogenesis and spermatogenesis.
Document Type: Article
Language: English
Reprint Address: Hunt, PA (reprint author), Case Western Reserve Univ, Sch Med, Dept Genet, 10900 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
Addresses:
1. Case Western Reserve Univ, Sch Med, Dept Genet, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
2. Case Western Reserve Univ, Sch Med, Ctr Human Genet, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
3. Univ Hosp Cleveland, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
Publisher: ROCKEFELLER UNIV PRESS, 1114 FIRST AVE, 4TH FL, NEW YORK, NY 10021 USA
Subject Category: Cell Biology
IDS Number: YP330
ISSN: 0021-9525
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