title: BORIS, a novel male germ-line-specific protein associated with epigenetic reprogramming events, shares the same 11-zinc-finger domain with CTCF, the insulator protein involved in reading imprinting marks in the soma.
abstract: CTCF, a conserved, ubiquitous, and highly versatile 11-zinc-finger factor involved in various aspects of gene regulation, forms methylation-sensitive insulators that regulate X chromosome inactivation and expression of imprinted genes. We document here the existence of a paralogous gene with the same exons encoding the 11-zinc-finger domain as mammalian CTCF genes and thus the same DNA-binding potential, but with distinct amino and carboxy termini. We named this gene BORIS for Brother of the Regulator of Imprinted Sites. BORIS is present only in the testis, and expressed in a mutually exclusive manner with CTCF during male germ cell development. We show here that erasure of methylation marks during male germ-line development is associated with dramatic up-regulation of BORIS and down-regulation of CTCF expression. Because BORIS bears the same DNA-binding domain that CTCF employs for recognition of methylation marks in soma, BORIS is a candidate protein for the elusive epigenetic reprogramming factor acting in the male germ line.
authors: Laboratory of Immunopathology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-0760, USA.
authors: Dmitri I
authors: DI
authors: Loukinov
authors: Elena
authors: E
authors: Pugacheva
authors: Sergei
authors: S
authors: Vatolin
authors: Svetlana D
authors: SD
authors: Pack
authors: Hanlim
authors: H
authors: Moon
authors: Igor
authors: I
authors: Chernukhin
authors: Poonam
authors: P
authors: Mannan
authors: Erik
authors: E
authors: Larsson
authors: Chandrasekhar
authors: C
authors: Kanduri
authors: Alexander A
authors: AA
authors: Vostrov
authors: Hengmi
authors: H
authors: Cui
authors: Emily L
authors: EL
authors: Niemitz
authors: John E J
authors: JE
authors: Rasko
authors: France M
authors: FM
authors: Docquier
authors: Malathi
authors: M
authors: Kistler
authors: Joseph J
authors: JJ
authors: Breen
authors: Zhengping
authors: Z
authors: Zhuang
authors: Wolfgang W
authors: WW
authors: Quitschke
authors: Rainer
authors: R
authors: Renkawitz
authors: Elena M
authors: EM
authors: Klenova
authors: Andrew P
authors: AP
authors: Feinberg
authors: Rolf
authors: R
authors: Ohlsson
authors: Herbert C
authors: HC
authors: Morse
authors: Victor V
authors: VV
authors: Lobanenkov
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000076246:CCCTC-Binding Factor; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D005819:Genetic Markers; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D016335:Zinc Fingers
chemical_list: D000076246:CCCTC-Binding Factor; C000619697:CTCF protein, human; C456540:CTCFL protein, human; C000619698:Ctcf protein, mouse; C499208:Ctcfl protein, mouse; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005819:Genetic Markers; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors