Meiosis Inhibitor 1 (MEI1)

The deduced 884-amino acid protein shares 79.4% identity with mouse Mei1. Northern blot analysis detected high expression of mouse Mei1 in testis and lower expression in brain, but not in several other tissues examined. RT-PCR detected Mei1 in embryonic day-17 ovaries, with much less expression in newborn ovaries and no expression in ovaries from young or adult mice, suggesting that expression is associated with early meiotic prophase I. Mei1 was also absent in testis of germ cell-deficient male mice.The 642-amino acid protein was found to share 77% homology with the mouse Mei1 protein. RT-PCR analysis of MEI1 expression in various adult human tissues revealed that it is predominantly expressed in testis with very weak expression in spleen and thymus.