Epididymal Region-Specific miRNA Expression and DNA Methylation and Their Roles in Controlling Gene Expression in Rats.

ABSTRACT: Region-specific gene expression is an intriguing feature of the mammalian epididymis. This unique property is essential for sperm maturation and storage, and it also implicates stringent and multi-level regulations of gene expression. Over the past decade, the androgen-driven activation of epididymal gene transcription has been extensively studied. However, it still remains largely unexplored whether and how other regulatory mechanisms, such as miRNAs and DNA methylation, are involved in controlling regional gene expression in the epididymis. Using microarray-based approaches, we studied the regional miRNA expression and DNA methylation profiles in 4 distinct epididymal regions (initial segment, caput, corpus and cauda) of rats. We found that the miR-200 family members were more expressed

SUBMITTER: Chu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4406618 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature