title: One Argonaute family member, Eif2c2 (Ago2), is essential for development and appears not to be involved in DNA methylation.
abstract: To elucidate the epigenetic role of RNAi in mammals, we disrupted the gene for Eif2c2 (Ago2), which works as the sole slicer of RNAi in the Argonaute family. In mice, disruption of Eif2c2 leads to embryonic lethality early in development after the implantation stage. This phenotype is completely different from that in a previous report, but somewhat similar to the disruption of Dicer1, another important component of RNAi. We also show that Eif2c2 is not required for the maintenance of DNA methylation in imprinted genes, centromeric repeats, and Xist. This suggests that developmental defects in the Eif2c2-deficient mouse are caused not at the transcriptional level, but rather at the posttranscriptional level through the miRNA-protein complex.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genome Science, Biosignal Genome Resource Center, Institute for Molecular and Cellular Regulation, Gunma University, 3-39-15 Showa-machi, Maebashi 371-8512, Japan.
authors.forename: Sumiyo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Takuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Horii
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ochiya
authors.forename: Izuho
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hatada
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004276:DNA, Satellite / Q000235:genetics; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D007426:Genes, Intracisternal A-Particle; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D006579:Heterozygote; D006720:Homozygote; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics; D010448:Peptide Initiation Factors / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D034622:RNA Interference; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000235:genetics; D049951:X Chromosome Inactivation
chemical_list: D004276:DNA, Satellite; D035683:MicroRNAs; D010448:Peptide Initiation Factors; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; D022661:RNA, Untranslated; C077885:XIST non-coding RNA