MCB
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Liu, J.
Right arrow Articles by Weinstein, L. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Liu, J.
Right arrow Articles by Weinstein, L. S.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Molecular and Cellular Biology, August 2000, p. 5808-5817, Vol. 20, No. 16
0270-7306/00/$04.00+0

Identification of a Methylation Imprint Mark within the Mouse Gnas Locus

Jie Liu, Shuhua Yu, Deborah Litman, Weiping Chen, and Lee S. Weinstein*

Metabolic Diseases Branch, National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892

Received 10 March 2000/Returned for modification 2 May 2000/Accepted 22 May 2000

The imprinted mouse gene Gnas produces the G protein alpha -subunit GSalpha and several other gene products by using alternative promoters and first exons. GSalpha is maternally expressed in some tissues and biallelically expressed in most other tissues, while the gene products NESP55 and XLalpha s are maternally and paternally expressed, respectively. We investigated the mechanisms of Gnas imprinting. The GSalpha promoter and first exon are not methylated on either allele. A further upstream region (approximately from positions -3400 to -939 relative to the GSalpha translational start site) is methylated only on the maternal allele in all adult somatic tissues and in early postimplantation development. Within this region lies a fourth promoter and first exon (exon 1A) that generates paternal-specific mRNAs of unknown function. Exon 1A and GSalpha mRNAs have similar expression patterns, making competition between their promoters unlikely. Differential methylation in this region is established during gametogenesis, being present in oocytes and absent in spermatozoa, and is maintained in preimplantation E3.5d blastocysts. Therefore, this region is a methylation imprint mark. In contrast, differential methylation of the NESP55 and XLalpha s promoter regions (Nesp and Gnasxl) is not established during gametogenesis. The methylation imprint mark that we identified may be important for the tissue-specific imprinting of GSalpha .

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Metabolic Diseases Branch, NIDDK/NIH, Bldg. 10, Rm. 8C101, Bethesda, MD 20892-1752. Phone: (301) 402-2923. Fax: (301) 402-0374. E-mail: leew{at}amb.niddk.nih.gov.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, August 2000, p. 5808-5817, Vol. 20, No. 16
0270-7306/00/$04.00+0


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. J. Virol. Eukaryot. Cell
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Clin. Vaccine Immunol. All ASM Journals

Copyright © 2000 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.