The organization, regulation, and biological functions of the synaptonemal complex

作者：Fengguo Zhang, Ruirui Zhang, Jinmin Gao · 发表于：Asian Journal of Andrology · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.4103/aja202153 · 被引用次数：20 · 研究领域：DNA Repair Mechanisms、Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics、Microtubule and mitosis dynamics

The synaptonemal complex (SC) is a meiosis-specific proteinaceous macromolecular structure that assembles between paired homologous chromosomes during meiosis in various eukaryotes. The SC has a highly conserved ultrastructure and plays critical roles in controlling multiple steps in meiotic recombination and crossover formation, ensuring accurate meiotic chromosome segregation. Recent studies in different organisms, facilitated by advances in super-resolution microscopy, have provided insights into the macromolecular structure of the SC, including the internal organization of the meiotic chromosome axis and SC central region, the regulatory pathways that control SC assembly and dynamics, and the biological functions exerted by the SC and its substructures. This review summarizes recent discoveries about how the SC is organized and regulated that help to explain the biological functions associated with this meiosis-specific structure.