AHCH, THE MOUSE HOMOLOG OF DAX1 - CLONING, CHARACTERIZATION AND SYNTENY WITH GYK, THE GLYCEROL KINASE LOCUS

We cloned the murine full-length cDNA encoding Ahch, the mouse homolog ue of DAX1 (DSS-AHC Region on Human X Chromosome, Gene1) which is the gene responsible for human X-linked adrenal hypoplasia congenita (AHC) and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH). Sequence analysis revealed th at the murine and human cDNAs have 65% aa identity and 75% aa similari ty overall. The cysteine residues in the putative DNA binding domain, which may interact with Zn2+ ions to form zinc fingers, are 100% conse rved between the two species, indicating that the novel zinc-finger st ructures in DAX1 may be functional. In addition, mouse interspecific b ackcrosses show that the Ahch gene is closely linked to the glycerol k inase locus, GyK, on the mouse X chromosome, indicating that the order of the loci is conserved in this syntenic region between mouse and hu man.