Genomic Imprinting
|
Edited By:Jon F. WilkinsSanta Fe Institute Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A. ISBN: 978-0-387-77575-3 Published: 2008-01-11 This book may be purchased as an eBook (pdf) for $99, or individual chapters (pdf) may be purchased from the list below for $19. |
Genomic imprinting refers to a recently discovered phenomenon in which the expression pattern of an allele depends on whether that allele was inherited from the mother or the father. This difference in expression strategy correlates with differences in the epigenetic state of the two alleles. These epigenetic differences include DNA methylation at CpG dinucleotides, as well as modifications on the histones associated with the locus. In the simplest possible cases, the promoter region of the imprinted gene is methylated during oogenesis, but not spermatogenesis (or vice versa). This methylation (and its accompanying histone modifications) results in inactivation of the modified allele. Of course, most imprinted genes do not fall into this simplest case. The goal of this book is neither to provide a basic introduction to imprinting, nor to provide a comprehensive survey of the current state of the field (which would necessarily span multiple books). Rather, the book covers on some of the more recent advances, with the goal of drawing attention to some of the emerging subtleties and complexities associated with imprinted genes.
Chapters available from this book
Control of Imprinting at the Gnas Cluster
Jo Peters and Christine M. Williamson
Genomic imprinting is a form of epigenetic regulation in mammals whereby a small subset of genes is silenced according to parental origin. Early work had indicated regions of the genome that were likely to contain imprinted genes. Distal mouse chromosome 2 is one such region and is associated with d...
What Are Imprinted Genes Doing in the Brain?
William Davies, Anthony R. Isles, Trevor Humby and Lawrence S. Wilkinson
As evidence for the existence of brain-expressed imprinted genes accumulates, we need to address exactly what they are doing in this tissue, especially in terms of organisational themes and the major challenges posed by reconciling imprinted gene action in brain with current evolutionary theories at...
Genomic Imprinting and Human Psychology: Cognition, Behavior and Pathology
Lisa M. Goos and Gillian Ragsdale
Imprinted genes expressed in the brain are numerous and it has become clear that they play an important role in nervous system development and function. The significant influence of genomic imprinting during development sets the stage for structural and physiological variations affecting psychologic...
The GNAS locus and Pseudohypoparathyroidism
Murat Bastepe
Pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) is a disorder of end-organ resistance primarily affecting the actions of parathyroid hormone (PTH). Genetic defects associated with different forms of PHP involve the a-subunit of the stimulatory G protein (Gsa), a signaling protein essential for the actions of PTH and...
Imprinted Genes and Human Disease: An Evolutionary Perspective
Francisco Ubeda and Jon F. Wilkins
Imprinted genes have been associated with a wide range of diseases. Many of these diseases have symptoms that can be understood in the context of the evolutionary forces that favored imprinted expression at these loci. Modulation of perinatal growth and resource acquisition has played a central role...
DNA Methylation Reprogramming in the Germ Line
Diane J. Lees-Murdock and Column P. Walsh
In mammals, methylation occurs almost exclusively on the CpG dinucleotide in DNA and shows no preference for sequence context surrounding this target. CpGs are found on many different sequence classes and methylation of this dinucleotide is associated with repression of transcription. Reprogramming ...
Genomic Imprinting in Plants
Olivier Garnier, Sylvia Laouielle-Duprat and Charles Spillane
Genomic imprinting attracted particular attention in the 1980s following the discovery that the parental origin of genetic information is essential for normal development of eutherians, for review see. The term imprinting was first introduced in the 1960s to describe the elimination of the paternal ...
Imprinted Genes, Postnatal Adaptations and Enduring Effects on Energy Homeostasis
Margalida Frontera, Benjamin Dickins, Antonius Plagge and Gavin Kelsey
The effects of imprinted genes on fetal growth and development have been firmly established. By and large, their roles conform to a conflict over provision of limited maternal resources to offspring, such that paternally expressed imprinted genes in offspring generally promote growth of the fetus, w...
Evolutionary Theories of Imprinting--Enough Already!
Tom Moore and Walter Mills
In our view, the conflict theory of imprinting explains the evolution of parental allele-specific gene expression patterns in the somatic tissues of mammals and angiosperms. Not surprisingly, given its importance in mammalian development and pathology, the evolution of imprinting continues to attrac...
Immune Receptor Signaling, Aging and Autoimmunity
Anis Larbi, Tamas Fülöp and Graham Pawelec
Aging is associated with a myriad of changes including alterations in glucose metabolism, brain function, hormonal regulation, muscle homeostasis and the immune system. Aged individuals, generally still defined as over 65 years old, differ from middle‑aged or young donors in many features of t...
