title: A preliminary exploration on DNA methylation of transgene across generations in transgenic rats.
abstract: Epigenetic heritability is an important issue in the field of genetics and also in the development of many human diseases. In this study, we created a transgenic rat model and investigated the transgenerational methylation patterns in these animals. The transgene DNA fragment was unmethylated before it was injected into the pronucleus, so it is a good model to study the inheritance of DNA methylation patterns. We performed bisulfite sequencing on 23 CpG dinucleotides on the transgene across three generations in two tissues. We observed that the transgene was heavily methylated in the liver (87.53%) from the founder generation, whereas its methylation rate was much lower in the kidney (70.47%). Spearman correlation analysis showed that there was a strong correlation on the methylation status between different generations in the same tissue, which was observed in both liver and kidney, and among all individuals in this pedigree. This study provided some evidence that DNA methylation patterns acquired in the founder animal can be passed to the offspring.
authors: 1] Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China [2] Cardiovascular Research Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors: Qiling
authors: Q
authors: Li
authors: Cardiovascular Research Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Xu
authors: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors: Ye
authors: Y
authors: Cui
authors: Cardiovascular Research Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors: Li
authors: L
authors: Ma
authors: Cardiovascular Research Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors: Jendai
authors: J
authors: Richards
authors: Cardiovascular Research Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors: Wenzhi
authors: W
authors: Li
authors: Cardiovascular Research Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors: Yamin
authors: Y
authors: Ma
authors: Cardiovascular Research Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors: Guoxing
authors: G
authors: Fu
authors: Cardiovascular Research Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors: Tameka
authors: T
authors: Bythwood
authors: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors: Yueling
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors: Xu
authors: X
authors: Li
authors: 1] Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China [2] Cardiovascular Research Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors: Qing
authors: Q
authors: Song
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018899:CpG Islands; D019175:DNA Methylation; D057890:Epigenomics; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D055647:Rats, Transgenic; D019076:Transgenes