The majority of mammalian genes are present in two copies, both of which are equally expressed and regulated. A small number of mammalian genes, however, are subject to special regulation by a process called gene imprinting. The imprint is a chemical mark attached to genes during egg or sperm development. Imprinting physically marks genes in such a way that the parental origin of the two copies can be distinguished so that one parent's copy is turned on while the other is silenced. Imprinted genes are the likely reason that maternal and paternal contributions are necessary for normal mammalian development.
Exploring the mechanisms underlying gene imprinting may provide insight into so-called epigenetic control of gene expression, in which the cellular machinery governs the expression of genes in the cell. The function of that machinery, which makes modifications to the genome, remains among the major mysteries in biology.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Marisa S. Bartolomei, Andrew Fedoriw, Paula Stein, Petr Svoboda and Richard Schultz at the University of Pennsylvania published their findings in the January 9, 2004, issue of the journal Science.
The researchers sought to pinpoint the regulatory role of a protein known as CTCF, which is believed to attach to a control region near imprinted genes. By binding to this region, called the differentially methylated domain, CTCF blocks the site from the attachment of methyl groups to the DNA -- chemical modifications that the cell's epigenetic machinery uses to silence genes.
Bartolomei and her colleagues focused on the role of CTCF in protect
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Contact: Jim Keeley
keeleyj@hhmi.org
301-215-8858
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
8-Jan-2004