Synaptonemal Complex Protein 1 (SYCP1)

Synaptonemal complexes are meiosis-specific nuclear organelles that appear to be involved at the meiotic prophase in chromosome rearrangements such as chromosome pairing and recombination. In developing chicken spinal cord, antagonism of miR124 phenocopied Scp1 overexpression and vice versa. In embryonic mouse P19 cells, miR124 suppressed Scp1 expression and induced neurogenesis, and Scp1 counteracted the proneural activity of miR124.

The SYCP1 cDNA predicts a protein of 976 amino acids that is approximately 75% identical to the rat and mouse homologs. The protein contains an N-terminal acidic domain, an alpha-helical domain, and a C-terminal basic domain. The SYCP1 protein sequence has some similarity to the sequence of several filamentous proteins, such as keratin and myosin.