A. Yamamoto et al., CELL-CYCLE DEPENDENT EXPRESSION OF THE MOUSE RAD51 GENE IN PROLIFERATING CELLS, MGG. Molecular & general genetics, 251(1), 1996, pp. 1-12
The mouse Rad51 gene is a mammalian homologue of the Escherichia coli
recA and yeast RAD51 genes, both of which are involved in homologous r
ecombination and DNA repair in mitosis and meiosis. The expression of
mouse Rad51 mRNA was examined in synchronized mouse m5S cells, The Rad
51 transcript was observed from late G1 phase through to M phase, Duri
ng the period of late G1-S-G2, the RAD51 proteins were observed exclus
ively in nuclei. Activation by mitogens of T cell and B cell prolifera
tion in spleen induced the expression of Rad51 mRNA, By immunohistoche
mical analyses, the mouse RAD51 protein was detected in proliferating
cells: spermatogonia in testis, immature T cells in thymus, germinal c
enter cells of the secondary lymphatic nodules of spleen and intestine
, follicle cells in ovary and epithelial cells in uterus and intestine
, It was also expressed in spermatocytes during early and mid-prophase
of meiosis and in resting oocytes before maturation. Thus, mouse Ran5
1 expression is closely related to the state of cell proliferation and
is presumably involved in DNA repair coupled with DNA replication, as
well as in meiotic DNA recombination in spermatocytes.