• Journal of Genetic Medicine
• /
• 제2권1호
• /
• pp.41-47
• /
• 1998

Human uniparental gestations such as gynogenetic ovarian teratomas provide a model to evaluate the integrity of parent-specific gene expression - i.e. imprinting - in the absence of a complementary parental genetic contribution. The few imprinted genes characterized so far include the insulin-like growth factor-2 gene (IGF2) coding for a fetal growth factor and H19 gene whose normal function is unknown but it is likely to act as an mRNA. IGF2 is expressed by the paternal allele and H19 by the maternal allele. This reciprocal expression is quite interesting because both H19 and IGF2 genes are located close to each other on chromosome 11p15.5. In situ RNA hybridization analysis has shown variable expression of the H19 and IGF2 alleles according to the tissue origin in 11 teratomas. Especially, Skin, derivative of ectoderm, is expressed conspicuously. We examined imprinting of H19 and IGF2 in teratomas using PCR and RT-PCR of exonic polymorphism. H19 and IGF2 transcript could be expressed either biallelically or monoallelically in the teratomas. Biallelic expression (i.e., loss of imprinting) of IGF2 occurred in 5 out of 6 mature teratomas and 1 out of 1 immature teratoma. Biallelic expression of H19 occurred in 4 out of 10 mature teratomas and 1 out of 1 immature teratoma. Expression levels of H19 and IGF2 transcript using the semi-quantitative RT-PCR had no relation between monoallelic and biallelic expression. Moreover, IGF2 biallelic expression did not affect allele-specificity or levels of H19 expression. These results demonstrate that both genes, H19 and IGF2, can be imprinted, expressed and regulated independently and individually of each other in ovarian teratoma.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
• /
• 제18권1호
• /
• pp.24-30
• /
• 2021

Epigenetics deals with modifications in gene expression, without altering the underlying DNA sequence. Genomic imprinting is a complex epigenetic phenomenon that refers to parent-of-origin-specific gene expression. Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) and Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) are congenital imprinting disorders with mirror opposite alterations at the genomic loci in 11p15.5 and opposite phenotypes. BWS and SRS are important imprinting disorders with the increase of knowledge of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. Altered expression of the imprinted genes in 11p15.5, especially IGF2 and CDKN1C, affects fetal and postnatal growth. A wide range of imprinting defects at multiple loci, instead of a restricted locus, has been shown in some patients with either BWS or SRS. The development of new high-throughput assays will make it possible to allow accurate diagnosis, personalized therapy, and informative genetic counseling.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
• /
• 제35권1호
• /
• pp.67-75
• /
• 2011

The faulty regulation of imprinting gene lead to the abnormal development of reconstructed embryo after nuclear transfer. However, the correlation between the imprinting status of donor cell and preimplantation stage of embryo development is not yet clear. In this study, to determine this correlation, we used the porcine spermatogonial stem cell (pSSC) and fetal fibroblast (pFF) as donor cells. As the results, the isolated cells with laminin matrix selection strongly expressed the GFR ${\alpha}$-1 and PLZF genes of SSCs specific markers. The pSSCs were maintained to 12 passages and positive for the pluripotent marker including OCT4, SSEA1 and NANOG. The methylation analysis of H19 DMR of pSSCs revealed that the zinc finger protein binding sites CTCF3 of H19 DMRs displayed an androgenic imprinting pattern (92.7%). Also, to investigate the reprogramming potential of pSSCs as donor cell, we compared the development rate and methylation status of H19 gene between the reconstructed embryos from pFF and pSSC. This result showed no significant differences of the development rate between the pFFs ($11.2{\pm}0.8%$) and SSCs ($13.3{\pm}1.1%$). However, interestingly, while the CTCF3 methylation status of pFF-NT blastocyst was decreased (36.3%), and the CTCF3 methylation status of pSSC-NT blastocyst was maintained. Therefore, this result suggested that the genomic imprinting status of pSSCs is more effective than that of normal somatic cells for the normal development because the maintenance of imprinting pattern is very important in early embryo stage.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• 제3권3호
• /
• pp.74-79
• /
• 2005

The H19 gene, located at human chromosome 11p15.5, is imprinted in most normal human tissues. However, imprinting is often lost in tumors suggesting H19 is a putative tumor suppressor. We analyzed the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of a 16 kb region that includes the H19 gene and its imprinting control region (ICR) in the Korean population. To identify SNPs, we directly sequenced this region in 18 Korean subjects. We identified 64 SNPs, of which 7 were in the exons of H19, 2 were in the introns, 14 were in the 3' intergenic region and 41 were in the 5' intergenic region. Of the 64 SNPs, 21 had not previously been reported and thus appear to be unique to the Korean population. The identified SNPs of H19 in the Korean population may eventually be useful as genetic markers associated with various diseases. In this study, 7 of the 64 identified SNPs were at CTCF binding sites in the ICR and may affect regulation of H19 gene imprinting. Thus, several genetic variations of the H19 gene may be important markers in human diseases that involve genomic imprinting, including cancer.

• 한국가축번식학회지
• /
• 제25권4호
• /
• pp.295-304
• /
• 2001

양적형질 유전자 좌위 (QTL)의 탐색과 이들의 발현 양상 규명을 위해 Berkshire종과 Yorkshire종 간의 교배를 통해 생산된 F$_2$ 실험집단에서 regression interval mapping이 이루어졌다. 모두 525마리의 F$_2$ 자손들에서 일당 증체량, 평균 등지방 두께, 배장근 단면적이 표현형으로 조사되어 분석에 이용되었으며 모돈의 번식능력에 관련된 QTL 존재 여부 추정을 위해 간접 형질로 인정되고 있는 생시체중과 이유 시 체중을 분석에 포함하였다. 양적형질의 분리 여부를 추론하기 위하여 돼지의 2번 염색체에서 8종의 microsatellite 표지인자가 선택되어 유전자형이 조사되었다. 각각의 유전적 모델에서 산출된 통계량으로부터 QTL 존재 여부와 특정 QTL 발현 양상에 대한 여부를 나타낼 수 있는 인정되는 수준의 type I 오차율을 제어할 수 있는 임계값 (threshold)을 permutation test에 의해 제시하였다. QTL의 존재와 그 QTL의 Imprinting 여부는 부계와 모계를 통해 원가계 1세대의 대립유전자가 전달되는 과정에서 발현되는 특성을 분리시키는 통계적 의형을 설정하여 검정 통계량을 산출하였다. 분석에 이용된 3가지 형질과 연관된 3종류의 QTL 존재 가능성을 돼지의 2번 염색체에서 확인하였으며, 이들 중 평균 등지방 두께와 배장근 단면적에 각각 영향을 미칠 것으로 추론된 2종류의 QTL 발현은 정상적인 Mendelian 유전양식을 따르지 않고 imprinting된다는 증거를 얻어냈다. 또한 이들 imprinting되는 QTL은 이미 imprinting 표현 양식을 가진다고 알려진 IGF II 유전자의 위치와 거의 동일한 염색체강의 지점에서 부계로 전달되는 QTL만이 발현되는 특징을 보이는 것으로 밝혀졌다. 한편 Mendelian 모형과 imprinting 모형 모두에서 유의적인 임계값 이상을 보이는 검정 통계량이 산출된 일당 증체량 연관 QTL은 두 모형간의 적정성 분석을 위한 검정을 퐁해 Mendelian 양식을 따른 것으로 최종 확인되었다.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제20권10호
• /
• pp.1485-1489
• /
• 2007

Achaete-scute like 2 (ASCL2) gene encodes a member of the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor which is essential for the maintenance of proliferating trophoblasts during placental development. ASCL2 gene preferentially expresses the maternal allele in the mouse. However, it escapes genomic imprinting in the human. In this study, the complete open reading frame consisting of 193 amino acids of ASCL2 gene was obtained. Sequence analysis indicated that a C-G mutation existed in the 3' region between Meishan and Large White pigs. The polymorphism was used to determine the monoallelic or biallelic expression with RT-PCR-RFLP in pigs of Large $White{\times}Meishan$ $F_1$ hybrids. Imprinting analysis indicated that the ASCL2 gene expression was biallelic in all the tested tissues (heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, stomach, small intestine, skeletal muscle, fat, uterus, ovary and pituitary). PCR-RFLP was used to detect the polymorphism in 270 pigs of the "$Large\;White{\times}Meishan$" $F_2$ resource population. The statistical results showed highly significant associations of the genotypes and fat meat percentage (FMP), lean meat percentage (LMP) and ratio of lean to fat (RLF) (p<0.01), and significant associations of the genotypes and loin eye area (LEA) and internal fat rate (IFR) (p<0.05).

• 한국유전체학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국유전체학회 2005년도 The 14th Korea Genome Conference
• /
• pp.50-50
• /
• 2005

• 한국발생생물학회지:발생과생식
• /
• 제14권4호
• /
• pp.253-259
• /
• 2010

DNA 메틸화 (DNA methylation)는 유전자의 발현을 조절하는 대표적인 후생학적 조절기작 (epigenetic regulation) 중에 하나이다. DNA 메틸화 양상은 생식세포 형성과정 및 배 발생단계에서 탈메틸화 (demethylation)와 de novo 메틸화의 드라마틱한 변화가 일어난다. 또한 이러한 DNA 메틸화는 배아줄기세포 (embryonic stem cells, ESCs)에서 특징적인 양상을 보이는 것으로 알려져 있다. 본 연구에서는 생쥐 수정란 유래 배아줄기세포와 체세포핵이식 배아줄기세포 (nuclear transplanted ESCs)를 이용해서 대표적 각인유전자 (imprinting genes)로 알려진 Snrpn, Igf2r, H19 유전자들에 대한 메틸화 양상을 알아보고자 하였다. 연구 결과 H19 유전자에 대해서는 DNA 메틸화 양상은 수정란 유래 배아줄기세포와 체세포핵이식 배아줄기세포에서 비슷한 경향을 보였으나, Snrpn과 Igf2r의 경우에는 체세포핵이식 배아줄기세포에서 과메틸화 (hypermethylation) 경향을 보였다.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제22권6호
• /
• pp.893-899
• /
• 2009

Few studies have reported the existence of imprinted genes in cattle compared to the human and mouse. Genomic imprinting is expressed in monoallelic form and it depends on a single parent-specific form of the allele. Comparative analysis of mammals other than the human is a valuable tool for explaining the genomic basis of imprinted genes. In this study, we investigated 34 common imprinted genes in the human and mouse as well as 35 known non-imprinted genes in the human. We found short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs), long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs), and long terminal repeats (LTRs) in imprinted (human and mouse) and control (cattle) genes. Pair-wise comparisons for the three species were conducted using SINEs, LINEs, and LTRs. We also calculated 95% confidence intervals of frequencies of repetitive sequences for the three species. As a result, most genes had a similar interval between species. We found 11 genes with conserved SINEs, LINEs, and LTRs in the human, mouse, and cattle. In conclusion, eleven genes (CALCR, Grb10, HTR2A, KCNK9, Kcnq1, MEST, OSBPL5, PPP1R9A, Sgce, SLC22A18, and UBE3A) were identified as candidate imprinted genes in cattle.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• 제25권2호
• /
• pp.211-215
• /
• 2008

To gain a better understanding of the methylation imprinting changes associated with heat stress in early development, we used bisulfite sequencing and bisulfite restriction analysis to examine the DNA methylation status of imprinted genes in early embryos (blastocysts). The paternal imprinted genes, H19 and Igf-2r, had lower methylation levels in heat-stressed embryos than in control embryos, whereas the maternal imprinted genes, Peg3 and Peg1, had similar methylation pattern in heat-stressed embryos and in control embryos. Our results indicate that heat stress may induce aberrant methylation imprinting, which results in developmental failure of mouse embryos, and that the effects of heat shock on methylation imprinting may be gene-specific.