title: Stage-specific induction of DNA methyltransferases in olfactory receptor neuron development.
abstract: DNA methylation-dependent gene silencing, mediated by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), is essential for normal mammalian development and its dysregulation has been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders. Despite this, little is known about DNMTs in the developing or mature nervous system. Here, we show that DNMT1, 3a and 3b are expressed at discrete developmental stages in the olfactory neuron lineage, coincident with key shifts in developmental gene expression. DNMT1 is induced in cycling progenitors and is retained in post-mitotic olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). DNMT3b is restricted to mitotic olfactory progenitors, whereas DNMT3a is expressed only in post-mitotic immature neurons prior to ORN terminal maturation, coincident with histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2), a key downstream effector of methylation-dependent chromatin condensation. Similar stage-specific expression of DNMT3b and 3a was also found in other developing sensory and CNS neurons. This suggests that progressive lineage restriction regulated by methylation-dependent silencing could be a highly conserved mechanism shared by multiple lineages in the developing nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, Rm 3479, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z4.
authors.forename: Jessica L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.forename: Christopher S Y
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Gin
authors.forename: A Jane
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Roskams
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002460:Cell Line; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000502:physiology; D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly; D000076123:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferase 1; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases / Q000502:physiology*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D000090205:DNA Methyltransferase 3A; D004790:Enzyme Induction; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D056464:Histone Deacetylase 2; D006655:Histone Deacetylases / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008938:Mitosis; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology; D000097584:DNA Methyltransferase 3B
chemical_list: D000076123:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferase 1; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases; D000090205:DNA Methyltransferase 3A; D056464:Histone Deacetylase 2; D006655:Histone Deacetylases; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D000097584:DNA Methyltransferase 3B; C000715535:Dnmt3a protein, mouse; C000619381:Dnmt1 protein, mouse; C533424:Hdac2 protein, mouse