Fig. 3.

Overview of SRY mechanism in mammals. A) Sry encodes a transcription factor that recognizes a specific DNA-binding motif (blue box). SRY contains an L-shaped HMG box that binds the minor groove of DNA and induces a 60–70° bend in the double helix (middle panel). It is speculated that DNA bending by SRY may mediate effects at a distance by promoting chromatin looping, which brings transcription factors in close proximity to TSS. Depicted is a putative example of SRY-mediated activation of Sox9 by binding to an upstream enhancer (right panel). B) The HMG box of SRY can bind to DNA cruciform structures regardless of DNA sequence.