Stimulated By Retinoic Acid Gene 8 (STRA8)

Human STRA8 shares 55% amino acid identity with mouse Stra8 and lacks a central glutamine-rich domain found in the mouse protein. RT-PCR of 15 human tissues detected high STRA8 expression in testis only.retinoic acid (RA) signaling was required for Stra8 expression, and therefore initiation of meiosis, in embryonic mouse ovaries. RA was sufficient to induce Stra8 expression in embryonic testis.

Cyp26 (see CYP26C1)-mediated RA metabolism was responsible for delaying Stra8 expression in embryonic testis. However, germ cells then failed to undergo the morphologic changes that define meiotic prophase and did not display the molecular hallmarks of meiotic chromosome cohesion, synapsis, and recombination.