DAZ protein family

The DAZ (Deleted in AZoospermia) protein family is a group of three highly conserved RNA-binding proteins that are important in gametogenesis and meiosis. Therefore, mutations in the genes that encode for the DAZ proteins can have detrimental consequences for fertility.

The three members of the DAZ protein family include BOULE (BOLL), DAZL (DAZLA) and DAZ (DAZ1, DAZ2, DAZ3 and DAZ4). DAZ1 is located on the Y chromosome in higher primates and is important for spermatogenesis. BOULE and DAZL are important for both oogenesis and spermatogenesis. BOULE and DAZL are both located on autosomes as single copies. However DAZ is located with multiple copies in the Y chromosome only. BOULE is present from invertebrates, DAZL is from vertebrates and DAZ is present from primates.