Expression of the transcriptional intermediary factor TIF1α during mouse development and in the reproductive organs

Abstract

Nuclear receptors are important regulators of development and reproduction whose action can be modulated by transcriptional intermediary factors (TIFs). In situ hybridization was used to investigate the expression pattern of the putative nuclear receptor mediator TIF1α during mouse embryogenesis and adult life. TIF1α is ubiquitously expressed until midgestation. At 12.5 gestational days, TIF1α is preferentially expressed in the developing central and peripheral nervous system. Differential expression persists until perinatal stages, with high expression in the brain, nasal epithelium and within proliferating regions of the kidney and teeth. In the adult, TIF1α expression is predominant in both the male and female gonads. Immunogold electron microscopy revealed that TIF1α protein is most abundant in the nuclei of male germ cells at various stages of their maturation.