The genome is composed of maternally inherited (red helix) and a paternally in-herited (blue helix) chromsomes. Using a genome-wide deep sequencing approach, a study led by Catherine Dulac and Christopher Gregg has uncovered complex maternal and paternal gene expression programs in the developing and adult brain.
Genome-wide analysis of mice brains has found that maternally inherited genes are expressed preferentially in the developing brain, while the pattern shifts decisively in favor of paternal influence by adulthood. The researchers report having identified 1,300 genes active in the mouse brain that show some degree of parental bias, greatly expanding on the 45 previously known 'imprinted genes' expressed in the brain. Fewer than 100 imprinted genes had been known to exist in the body, suggesting they may be far more common than previously thought. The study was led by Catherine Dulac , chair of Harvard's department of molecular and cellular biology , and Christopher Gregg, a postdoctoral fellow in her lab, and has been given advance on-line publication by the journal Science . The new work helps in understanding genomic imprinting, through which each parent is thought to contribute genes nudging offspring development in a direction most favorable, and least costly, to the ultimate transmission of that parent's genetic material. It contributes to scientists' growing understanding of a subtle tug-of-war between genes inherited from the mother and the father that shapes the development of their offspring early in life, and may provide lasting parental influence well after birth, even into adulthood. 'Our work shows that parental bias in gene expression is a major mode of genetic regulation in the brain,' said Dulac, the Higgins Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
