Germ cell nuclear factor

Nuclear receptor subfamily 6, group A, member 1
Identifiers
Symbols	NR6A1 ; CT150; GCNF; GCNF1; NR61; RTR; hGCNF; hRTR
External IDs	OMIM: 602778 MGI: 1352459 HomoloGene: 36308 IUPHAR: 634 GeneCards: NR6A1 Gene
Gene ontology Molecular function • RNA polymerase II core promoter proximal region sequence-specific DNA binding • transcriptional activator activity, RNA polymerase II core promoter proximal region sequence-specific binding • DNA binding • steroid hormone receptor activity • RNA polymerase II transcription factor activity, ligand-activated sequence-specific DNA binding • zinc ion binding • protein homodimerization activity • sequence-specific DNA binding Cellular component • nucleoplasm • transcription factor complex Biological process • negative regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter • transcription initiation from RNA polymerase II promoter • gamete generation • spermatogenesis • cell proliferation • gene expression • intracellular receptor signaling pathway • steroid hormone mediated signaling pathway • positive regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter Sources: Amigo / QuickGO
RNA expression pattern
More reference expression data
Orthologs
Species	Human	Mouse
Entrez	2649	14536
Ensembl	ENSG00000148200	ENSMUSG00000063972
UniProt	Q15406	Q64249
RefSeq (mRNA)	NM_001278546	NM_001159548
RefSeq (protein)	NP_001265475	NP_001153020
Location (UCSC)	Chr 9: 124.52 – 124.77 Mb	Chr 2: 38.72 – 38.93 Mb
PubMed search

The germ cell nuclear factor (GCNF), also known as RTR (retinoid receptor-related testis-associated receptor) or NR6A1 (nuclear receptor subfamily 6, group A, member 1), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NR6A1 gene.^[1][2] GCNF is a member of the nuclear receptor family of intracellular transcription factors .

In adults, GCNH is expressed mainly in the germ cells of gonads and is involved in the regulation of embryogenesis and germ cell differentiation.^[3]

Its expression pattern suggests that it may be involved in neurogenesis and germ cell development. The protein can homodimerize and bind DNA, but in vivo targets have not been identified. The gene expresses three alternatively spliced transcript variants.^[4]

References

1. Lei W, Hirose T, Zhang LX, Adachi H, Spinella MJ, Dmitrovsky E, Jetten AM (Apr 1997). "Cloning of the human orphan receptor germ cell nuclear factor/retinoid receptor-related testis-associated receptor and its differential regulation during embryonal carcinoma cell differentiation". Journal of Molecular Endocrinology 18 (2): 167–76. doi:10.1677/jme.0.0180167. PMID 9134503.
2. Süsens U, Borgmeyer U (Dec 1996). "Characterization of the human germ cell nuclear factor gene". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1309 (3): 179–82. doi:10.1016/s0167-4781(96)00157-1. PMID 8982251.
3. Zechel C (Dec 2005). "The germ cell nuclear factor (GCNF)". Molecular Reproduction and Development 72 (4): 550–6. doi:10.1002/mrd.20377. PMID 16155958.
4. "Entrez Gene: NR6A1 nuclear receptor subfamily 6, group A, member 1".

Further reading

• Greschik H, Schüle R (1999). "Germ cell nuclear factor: an orphan receptor with unexpected properties". Journal of Molecular Medicine 76 (12): 800–10. doi:10.1007/s001090050284. PMID 9846950.
• Hirose T, O'Brien DA, Jetten AM (Jan 1995). "RTR: a new member of the nuclear receptor superfamily that is highly expressed in murine testis". Gene 152 (2): 247–51. doi:10.1016/0378-1119(94)00656-D. PMID 7835709.
• Yan ZH, Medvedev A, Hirose T, Gotoh H, Jetten AM (Apr 1997). "Characterization of the response element and DNA binding properties of the nuclear orphan receptor germ cell nuclear factor/retinoid receptor-related testis-associated receptor". The Journal of Biological Chemistry 272 (16): 10565–72. doi:10.1074/jbc.272.16.10565. PMID 9099702.
• Kapelle M, Krätzschmar J, Husemann M, Schleuning WD (May 1997). "cDNA cloning of two closely related forms of human germ cell nuclear factor (GCNF)". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1352 (1): 13–7. doi:10.1016/s0167-4781(97)00043-2. PMID 9177477.
• Agoulnik IY, Cho Y, Niederberger C, Kieback DG, Cooney AJ (Mar 1998). "Cloning, expression analysis and chromosomal localization of the human nuclear receptor gene GCNF". FEBS Letters 424 (1-2): 73–8. doi:10.1016/S0014-5793(98)00142-2. PMID 9537518.
• Greschik H, Wurtz JM, Hublitz P, Köhler F, Moras D, Schüle R (Jan 1999). "Characterization of the DNA-binding and dimerization properties of the nuclear orphan receptor germ cell nuclear factor". Molecular and Cellular Biology 19 (1): 690–703. doi:10.1128/mcb.19.1.690. PMC 83926. PMID 9858592.
• Schmitz TP, Süsens U, Borgmeyer U (Sep 1999). "DNA binding, protein interaction and differential expression of the human germ cell nuclear factor". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1446 (3): 173–80. doi:10.1016/s0167-4781(99)00079-2. PMID 10524192.
• Yan Z, Jetten AM (Nov 2000). "Characterization of the repressor function of the nuclear orphan receptor retinoid receptor-related testis-associated receptor/germ cell nuclear factor". The Journal of Biological Chemistry 275 (45): 35077–85. doi:10.1074/jbc.M005566200. PMID 10940306.
• Süsens U, Borgmeyer U (2001). "Genomic structure of the gene for mouse germ-cell nuclear factor (GCNF). II. Comparison with the genomic structure of the human GCNF gene". Genome Biology 2 (5): RESEARCH0017. doi:10.1186/gb-2001-2-5-research0017. PMC 32189. PMID 11387038.
• Mehta DV, Kim YS, Dixon D, Jetten AM (Apr 2002). "Characterization of the expression of the retinoid-related, testis-associated receptor (RTR) in trophoblasts". Placenta 23 (4): 281–7. doi:10.1053/plac.2001.0779. PMID 11969338.
• Yan Z, Kim YS, Jetten AM (Aug 2002). "RAP80, a novel nuclear protein that interacts with the retinoid-related testis-associated receptor". The Journal of Biological Chemistry 277 (35): 32379–88. doi:10.1074/jbc.M203475200. PMID 12080054.
• Lan ZJ, Chung AC, Xu X, DeMayo FJ, Cooney AJ (Dec 2002). "The embryonic function of germ cell nuclear factor is dependent on the DNA binding domain". The Journal of Biological Chemistry 277 (52): 50660–7. doi:10.1074/jbc.M209586200. PMID 12381721.
• Yang G, Zhang YL, Buchold GM, Jetten AM, O'Brien DA (May 2003). "Analysis of germ cell nuclear factor transcripts and protein expression during spermatogenesis". Biology of Reproduction 68 (5): 1620–30. doi:10.1095/biolreprod.102.012013. PMID 12606326.
• Rajkovic M, Middendorff R, Wetzel MG, Frkovic D, Damerow S, Seitz HJ, Weitzel JM (Dec 2004). "Germ cell nuclear factor relieves cAMP-response element modulator tau-mediated activation of the testis-specific promoter of human mitochondrial glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase". The Journal of Biological Chemistry 279 (50): 52493–9. doi:10.1074/jbc.M404467200. PMID 15456763.

External links

• NR6A1 protein, human at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)