Studies of Y chromosome evolution often emphasize gene loss, but this loss has been counterbalanced by addition of new genes. The DAZ genes, which are critical to human spermatogenesis, were acquired by the Y chromosome in the ancestor of Old World monkeys and apes. We and our colleagues recently sequenced the rhesus macaque Y chromosome, and comparison of this sequence to human and chimpanzee ...

Testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) is the most common cancer in young men. Despite a considerable familial component to TGCT risk, no genetic change that confers increased risk has been substantiated to date. The human Y chromosome carries a number of genes specifically involved in male germ cell development, and deletion of the AZFc region at Yq11 is the most common known genetic cause of infer...

Using a combination of in situ mapping and DNA analysis with recombinant DNA probes specific for the Sxr region of the mouse Y chromosome, we show that both the gene(s) controlling sex determination and the expression of the male-specific antigen H-Y (Tdy and Hya, respectively) are located on the minute short arm of the mouse Y chromosome. We demonstrate that the H-Y- variant of Sxr (Sxr') aros...

BACKGROUND In some cases infertile men showed small deletions of specific genes in the Y chromosome. It had been confirmed, these deleted genes are greatly associated with spermatogenic failure. However, the frequency and the patterns of such microdeletions among infertile men are not clearly clarified. OBJECTIVE We sought to determine the frequency and the patterns of Y chromosome microdelet...

About 30-40% of male infertility is due to unknown reasons. Genetic contributions to the disruption of spermatogenesis are suggested and amongst the genetic factors studied, Y chromosome microdeletions represent the most common one. Screening for microdeletions in AZFa, b and c region of Y chromosome showed a big variation among different studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate th...

The aim of the present study was to perform comprehensive prenatal diagnosis using various detection techniques on a fetus in a high‑risk pregnant woman, and to provide genetic counseling for the patient and her family so as to avoid birth defects. The routine karyotype analysis via amniocentesis, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and whole genome microarray technique were performed for the p...

AZF deletions are genomic deletions in the euchromatic part of the long arm of the human Y chromosome (Yq11) associated with azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia. Consequently, it can be assumed that these deletions remove Y chromosomal genes required for spermatogenesis. However, these 'classical' or 'complete' AZF deletions, AZFa, AZFb and AZFc, represent only a subset of rearrangements in Y...

Microdeletions in the azoospermia factor (AZF) regions on the long arm of the human Y chromosome are known to be associated with spermatogenic failure. Although AZFc is recurrently deleted in azoospermic or oligozoospermic males, no definitive conclusion has been reached for the contribution of different partial AZFc deletions to spermatogenic failure. To further investigate the roles of partia...

Disturbed spermatogenesis and azoospermia are reported in a man with a deleted Y chromosome. The anomalous Y chromosome appears in the karyotype as a small metacentric marker. In situ hybridisation using three different Y specific DNA probes shows that deletion at Yq11 has resulted in loss of all distal heterochromatin. The sterility of the patient indicates loss also of the azoospermia factor ...