Ets Variant 5 (ETV5)

ERM is expressed exclusively within Sertoli cells in the testis and is required for spermatogonial stem cell self-renewal. Mice with targeted disruption of ERM have a loss of maintenance of spermatogonial stem cell self-renewal without a block in normal spermatogenic differentiation and thus have progressive germ cell depletion and a Sertoli cell-only syndrome. The 2.2-kb ERM clone encoded a 510-amino acid putative protein which shares about 95% identity with the mouse genes Pea3 and Er81 in the 85-residue DNA-binding ETS domain. ERM is about 85% identical with these proteins within the N-terminal acidic domain. Further, the protein was shown to bind to an oligonucleotide containing the consensus nucleotide core sequence GGAA recognized by the other Ets proteins.