Molecular biology. Mothers setting boundaries

Certain genes are only expressed at one allele, a phenomenon called imprinting. Although it is well established that one allele of certain imprinted genes is silenced through methylation, this does not appear to be the case for all imprinted genes. In a thoughtful Perspective, Thorvaldsen and Bartol...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2000-06, Vol.288 (5474), p.2145-2146
Main Authors: Thorvaldsen, J L, Bartolomei, M S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alleles
Animals
CCCTC-Binding Factor
Dinucleoside Phosphates
DNA Methylation
DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism
Enhancer Elements, Genetic
Fathers
Female
Gene Silencing
Genomic Imprinting
Humans
Insulin-Like Growth Factor II - genetics
Male
Models, Genetic
Mothers
Muscle Proteins - genetics
Ovum - metabolism
Promoter Regions, Genetic
Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid
Repressor Proteins
RNA, Long Noncoding
RNA, Untranslated
Spermatozoa - metabolism
Transcription Factors - metabolism
Zinc Fingers
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Summary:Certain genes are only expressed at one allele, a phenomenon called imprinting. Although it is well established that one allele of certain imprinted genes is silenced through methylation, this does not appear to be the case for all imprinted genes. In a thoughtful Perspective, Thorvaldsen and Bartolomei discuss new findings showing that insertion of insulator elements (boundary regions) between the promoter of a gene and its enhancer (a sequence that boosts gene expression) may be another way in which genes are silenced during imprinting.
ISSN:0036-8075
DOI:10.1126/science.288.5474.2145