This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental material
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 Hsu, M.
Right arrow Articles by Fiering, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hsu, M.
Right arrow Articles by Fiering, S.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Molecular and Cellular Biology, July 2007, p. 5047-5054, Vol. 27, No. 13
0270-7306/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.02234-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

CpG Hypomethylation in a Large Domain Encompassing the Embryonic ß-Like Globin Genes in Primitive Erythrocytes{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Mei Hsu,1 Rodwell Mabaera,2 Christopher H. Lowrey,2 David I. K. Martin,3 and Steven Fiering1*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Department of Genetics, and Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire,1 Department of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, and Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire,2 Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, California3

Received 28 November 2006/ Returned for modification 22 January 2007/ Accepted 12 April 2007

There is little evidence addressing the role of CpG methylation in transcriptional control of genes that do not contain CpG islands. This is reflected in the ongoing debate about whether CpG methylation merely suppresses retroelements or if it also plays a role in developmental and tissue-specific gene regulation. The genes of the ß-globin locus are an important model of mammalian developmental gene regulation and do not contain CpG islands. We have analyzed the methylation status of regions in the murine ß-like globin locus in uncultured primitive and definitive erythroblasts and other cultured primary and transformed cell types. A large (~20-kb) domain is hypomethylated only in primitive erythroid cells; it extends from the region just past the locus control region to before ß-major and encompasses the embryonic genes Ey, ßh1, and ßh0. Even retrotransposons in this region are hypomethylated in primitive erythroid cells. The existence of this large developmentally regulated domain of hypomethylation supports a mechanistic role for DNA methylation in developmental regulation of globin genes.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dartmouth Medical School, 6 Rubin, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH 03756. Phone: (603) 653-9966. Fax: (603) 653-9952. E-mail: fiering{at}dartmouth.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 23 April 2007.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://mcb.asm.org/.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, July 2007, p. 5047-5054, Vol. 27, No. 13
0270-7306/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.02234-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Bhatia, H., Hallock, J. L., Dutta, A., Karkashon, S., Sterner, L. S., Miyazaki, T., Dean, A., Little, J. A. (2009). Short-chain fatty acid-mediated effects on erythropoiesis in primary definitive erythroid cells. Blood 113: 6440-6448 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»