title: High resolution methylation analysis of the HoxA5 regulatory region in different somatic tissues of laboratory mouse during development.
abstract: Homeobox genes encode a group of DNA binding regulatory proteins whose key function occurs in the spatial-temporal organization of genome during embryonic development and differentiation. The role of these Hox genes during ontogenesis makes it an important model for research. HoxA5 is a member of Hox gene family playing a central role during axial body patterning and morphogenesis. DNA modification studies have shown that the function of Hox genes is partly governed by the methylation-mediated gene expression regulation. Therefore the study aimed to investigate the role of epigenetic events in regulation of tissue-specific expression pattern of HoxA5 gene during mammalian development. The methodology adopted were sodium bisulfite genomic DNA sequencing, quantitative real-time PCR and chromatin-immunoprecipitation (ChIP). Methylation profiling of HoxA5 gene promoter shows higher methylation in adult as compared to fetus in various somatic tissues of mouse being highest in adult spleen. However q-PCR results show higher expression during fetal stages being highest in fetal intestine followed by brain, liver and spleen. These results clearly indicate a strict correlation between DNA methylation and tissue-specific gene expression. The findings of chromatin-immunoprecipitation (ChIP) have also reinforced that epigenetic event like DNA methylation plays important role in the regulation of tissue specific expression of HoxA5.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, 211004 India.
authors.forename: Puja
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India.
authors.forename: Kiran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, 211004 India. Electronic address: manishas@mnnit.ac.in.
authors.forename: Manisha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sachan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D047369:Chromatin Immunoprecipitation; D018899:CpG Islands; D019175:DNA Methylation; D005333:Fetus / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014157:Transcription Factors
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C059637:Hoxa5 protein, mouse; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: Chromatin conformation; HoxA5; Mammalian development; Promoter DNA methylation; Tissue specific expression