Transcription and histone methylation changes correlate with imprint acquisition in male germ cells.

ABSTRACT: Genomic imprinting in mammals is controlled by DNA methylation imprints that are acquired in the gametes, at essential sequence elements called 'imprinting control regions' (ICRs). What signals paternal imprint acquisition in male germ cells remains unknown. To address this question, we explored histone methylation at ICRs in mouse primordial germ cells (PGCs). By 13.5 days post coitum (d.p.c.), H3 lysine-9 and H4 lysine-20 trimethylation are depleted from ICRs in male (and female) PGCs, indicating that these modifications do not signal subsequent imprint acquisition, which initiates at ∼15.5 d.p.c. Furthermore, during male PGC development, H3 lysine-4 trimethylation becomes biallelically enriched at 'maternal' ICRs, which are protected against DNA methylation, and whose promoters are acti

SUBMITTER: Henckel A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3273379 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature