A primer on the use of mouse models for identifying direct sex chromosome effects that cause sex differences in non-gonadal tissues

Table 7 Mouse ancestral Y genes

Gene	Protein function	Expression^a	Role [references]
Sry	HMG box transcription factor	Testis	Triggers the fetal genital ridge to form a testis [3, 98, 99]
Rbmy, ~30 copies	RNA binding motif protein	Testis; brain, kidney	Aids sperm morphogenesis [116, 128, 129]
Uba1y	Ubiquitin-activating enzyme	Testis; brain, kidney, liver, skeletal muscle	Not known [130, 131]
Kdm5d (Smcy)	Lysine specific demethylase	Ubiquitous	Has epigenetic effects by modifying histone H3. Interacts with MSH5 during spermatogenesis [132, 133]
Zfy1,2	Zinc finger transcription factors	Testis, skeletal muscle	Enable meiotic quality controls, the completion of the second meiotic division and sperm morphogenesis/function [73, 74, 104, 108, 109, 134]
Uty	Tetratricopeptide repeat protein without the demethylase activity of UTX/KDM6A (a demethylase)	Ubiquitous	Involved in protein-protein interactions? [98, 99, 105, 135]
Usp9y	Ubiquitin specific peptidase	Testis, brain, kidney, skeletal muscle	Loss of function in man leads to spermatogenic impairment [136, 137]
Ddx3y	Probable ATP-dependent RNA helicase	Ubiquitous	Not known [138]
Eif2s3y	Subunit of elongation and initiation factor	Ubiquitous	Involved in protein synthesis. Supports spermatogonial proliferation [100, 102, 139]

Data in italics indicate low transcript levels. For brain expression, also see [140]
^aBased on RNAseq data [22]

ISSN: 2042-6410