A molecular model for the role of SYCP3 in meiotic chromosome organisation

  1. Johanna L Syrjänen
  2. Luca Pellegrini
  3. Owen R Davies  Is a corresponding author
  1. University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
  2. Newcastle University, United Kingdom

Abstract

The synaptonemal complex (SC) is an evolutionarily-conserved protein assembly that holds together homologous chromosomes during prophase of the first meiotic division. Whilst essential for meiosis and fertility, the molecular structure of the SC has proved resistant to elucidation. The SC protein SYCP3 has a crucial but poorly understood role in establishing the architecture of the meiotic chromosome. Here we show that human SYCP3 forms a highly-elongated helical tetramer of 20 nm length. N-terminal sequences extending from each end of the rod-like structure bind double-stranded DNA, enabling SYCP3 to link distant sites along the sister chromatid. We further find that SYCP3 self-assembles into regular filamentous structures that resemble the known morphology of the SC lateral element. Together, our data form the basis for a model in which SYCP3 binding and assembly on meiotic chromosomes leads to their organisation into compact structures compatible with recombination and crossover formation.

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Author details

  1. Johanna L Syrjänen

    University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Luca Pellegrini

    University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Owen R Davies

    Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
    For correspondence
    owen.davies@newcastle.ac.uk
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Copyright

© 2014, Syrjänen et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Johanna L Syrjänen
  2. Luca Pellegrini
  3. Owen R Davies
(2014)
A molecular model for the role of SYCP3 in meiotic chromosome organisation
eLife 3:e02963.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02963

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https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02963