title: Dnmt3L and the establishment of maternal genomic imprints.
abstract: Complementary sets of genes are epigenetically silenced in male and female gametes in a process termed genomic imprinting. The Dnmt3L gene is expressed during gametogenesis at stages where genomic imprints are established. Targeted disruption of Dnmt3L caused azoospermia in homozygous males, and heterozygous progeny of homozygous females died before midgestation. Bisulfite genomic sequencing of DNA from oocytes and embryos showed that removal of Dnmt3L prevented methylation of sequences that are normally maternally methylated. The defect was specific to imprinted regions, and global genome methylation levels were not affected. Lack of maternal methylation imprints in heterozygous embryos derived from homozygous mutant oocytes caused biallelic expression of genes that are normally expressed only from the allele of paternal origin. The key catalytic motifs characteristic of DNA cytosine methyltransferases have been lost from Dnmt3L, and the protein is more likely to act as a regulator of imprint establishment than as a DNA methyltransferase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Development, Transgenic Animal Facility, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bourc'his
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bollman
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Bestor
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000235:genetics; D020134:Catalytic Domain; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D018390:Gene Targeting; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D006579:Heterozygote; D006720:Homozygote; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009154:Mutation; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D009866:Oogenesis; D010641:Phenotype; D017411:Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nuclear; D013234:Stem Cells; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism; D055517:snRNP Core Proteins
chemical_list: D001324:Autoantigens; D017411:Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nuclear; D055517:snRNP Core Proteins; C498796:Dnmt3l protein, mouse; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases