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Updated: May 2, 2026

Using Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization FISH to Monitor the State of Arm Cohesion in Prometaphase and Metaphase I Drosophila Oocytes
Published on: December 6, 2017
Mutant cohesin in premature ovarian failure
Sandrine Caburet1, Valerie A Arboleda1, Elena Llano1
1Institut Jacques Monod, Université Paris Diderot (S.C., M.F., R.A.V.), and Institut Cochin, Université Paris Descartes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 8104, INSERM (D.V., M.F.) - both in Paris; the Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles (V.A.A., E.V.); Departamento de Fisiología y Farmacología, Universidad de Salamanca (E.L.), and Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (E.L., I.G.-T., A.M.P.) - both in Salaman ca, Spain; the Department of Molecular Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston (P.A.O., K.O., W.H.); Centro de In vestigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid (J.L.B.); and the Department of Genetics, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem (Z.B.-N.).
Abstract:
Premature ovarian failure is a major cause of female infertility. The genetic causes of this disorder remain unknown in most patients. Using whole-exome sequence analysis of a large consanguineous family with inherited premature ovarian failure, we identified a homozygous 1-bp deletion inducing a frameshift mutation in STAG3 on chromosome 7. STAG3 encodes a meiosis-specific subunit of the cohesin ring, which ensures correct sister chromatid cohesion. Female mice devoid of Stag3 are sterile, and their fetal oocytes are arrested at early prophase I, leading to oocyte depletion at 1 week of age.
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