Silencing and transcriptional properties of the imprinted Airn ncRNA are independent of the endogenous promoter.

ABSTRACT: The Airn macro ncRNA is the master regulator of imprinted expression in the Igf2r imprinted gene cluster where it silences three flanking genes in cis. Airn transcription shows unusual features normally viewed as promoter specific, such as impaired post-transcriptional processing and a macro size. The Airn transcript is 108 kb long, predominantly unspliced and nuclear localized, with only a minority being variably spliced and exported. Here, we show by deletion of the Airn ncRNA promoter and replacement with a constitutive strong or weak promoter that splicing suppression and termination, as well as silencing activity, are maintained by strong Airn expression from an exogenous promoter. This indicates that all functional regions are located within the Airn transcript. DNA methylation of th

SUBMITTER: Stricker SH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2599881 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature