Figure 8.

A hypothetical model for Prss42/Tessp-2 transcriptional activation. This figure indicates the hypothesized mechanism of Prss42/Tessp-2 gene activation based on our data. When spermatogonia divide into primary spermatocytes, the chromatin at the enhancer downstream of lncRNA-HSVIII begins to interact with that at the Prss42/Tessp-2 promoter, and thereby the enhancer is allowed to activate Prss42/Tessp-2 transcription. At a similar timing, Tesra transcripts are accumulated in the nuclei of primary spermatocytes and bind to chromatin at the Prss42/Tessp-2 promoter. The transcription level of Prss42/Tessp-2 is substantially enhanced by these two elements. There must be some proteins binding to Tesra transcripts and/or to the Prss42/Tessp-2 promoter.