title: Imprinted silencing is extended over broad chromosomal domains in mouse extra-embryonic lineages.
abstract: Gene silencing in imprinted gene clusters is established by an epigenetic initiator that is often a long non-coding (lnc) RNA. The clustered organization of known imprinted genes indicates that the initiator extends imprinted silencing over broader chromosomal domains in extra-embryonic lineages compared to the embryo. We propose that extension of imprinted gene clusters may result from known epigenetic differences between extra-embryonic and embryonic lineages that alter the behavior of epigenetic initiators. New RNA sequencing technology will enable the full extent of imprinted silencing in embryonic and extra-embryonic lineages to be defined, but appropriate analysis and cell systems are required, which we define here based on a review of recent studies.
authors.affiliation: CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Lazarettgasse 14, AKH-BT25.3, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Tomasz M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Kulinski
authors.forename: Denise P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Barlow
authors.forename: Quanah J
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Hudson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D005321:Extraembryonic Membranes / Q000378:metabolism; D020868:Gene Silencing; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D051379:Mice; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding