Bridging sequence diversity and tissue-specific expression by DNA methylation in genes of the mouse prolactin superfamily.

ABSTRACT: Much of the DNA in genomes is organized within gene families and hierarchies of gene superfamilies. DNA methylation is the main epigenetic event involved in gene silencing and genome stability. In the present study, we analyzed the DNA methylation status of the prolactin (PRL) superfamily to obtain insight into its tissue-specific expression and the evolution of its sequence diversity. The PRL superfamily in mice consists of two dozen members, which are expressed in a tissue-specific manner. The genes in this family have CpG-less sequences, and they are located within a 1-Mb region as a gene cluster on chromosome 13. We tentatively grouped the family into several gene clusters, depending on location and gene orientation. We found that all the members had tissue-dependent differentially met

SUBMITTER: Hayakawa K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4834219 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature