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.
Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
Stormy J
SJ
Chamberlain
Karen A
KA
Johnstone
Amanda J
AJ
DuBose
Thomas A
TA
Simon
Marisa S
MS
Bartolomei
James L
JL
Resnick
Camilynn I
CI
Brannan
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