Evidence for genetic modifiers of postnatal lethality in PWS-IC deletion mice.
Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), most notably characterized by infantile hypotonia, short stature and morbid obesity, results from deficiencies in multiple genes that are subject to genomic imprinting. The usefulness of current mouse models of PWS has been limited by postnatal lethality in affected mice. Here, we report the survival of the PWS-imprinting center (IC) deletion mice on a variety of strain backgrounds. Expression analyses of the genes affected in the PWS region suggest that while there is low-level expression from both parental alleles in PWS-IC deletion pups, this expression does not explain their survival on certain strain backgrounds. Rather, the data provide evidence for strain-specific modifier genes that support the survival of PWS-IC deletion mice.
Chamberlain
Stormy J
SJ
Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
Johnstone
Karen A
KA
DuBose
Amanda J
AJ
Simon
Thomas A
TA
Bartolomei
Marisa S
MS
Resnick
James L
JL
Brannan
Camilynn I
CI
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D017931:DNA Primers; D005260:Female; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005804:Genes, Lethal; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D011218:Prader-Willi Syndrome / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D017931:DNA Primers