title: The PcG gene Sfmbt2 is paternally expressed in extraembryonic tissues.
abstract: Genomic imprinting has dramatic effects on placental development, as has been clearly observed in interspecific hybrid, somatic cell nuclear transfer, and uniparental embryos. In fact, the earliest defects in uniparental embryos are evident first in the extraembryonic trophoblast. We performed a microarray comparison of gynogenetic and androgenetic mouse blastocysts, which are predisposed to placental pathologies, to identify imprinted genes. In addition to identifying a large number of known imprinted genes, we discovered that the Polycomb group (PcG) gene Sfmbt2 is imprinted. Sfmbt2 is expressed preferentially from the paternal allele in early embryos, and in later stage extraembryonic tissues. A CpG island spanning the transcriptional start site is differentially methylated on the maternal allele in e14.5 placenta. Sfmbt2 is located on proximal chromosome 2, in a region known to be imprinted, but for which no genes had been identified until now. This possibly identifies a new imprinted domain within the murine genome. We further demonstrate that murine SFMBT2 protein interacts with the transcription factor YY1, similar to the Drosophila PHO-RC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont., Canada.
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuzmin
authors.forename: Zhiming
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Golding
authors.forename: Mellissa R W
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: Keith E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Latham
authors.forename: Susannah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Varmuza
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002875:Chromosomes; D018899:CpG Islands / Q000235:genetics; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D005321:Extraembryonic Membranes / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D016678:Genome; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010920:Placenta; D011247:Pregnancy; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012097:Repressor Proteins; C527638:Sfmbt2 protein, mouse; D014157:Transcription Factors