genomic imprinting and epigenetics Flashcards
what is required for mammalian development?
two parents
what happens if there are not two parents for mammalian development?
androgenesis - when there is no mother so complete father genome
or parthenogenesis where there is not father resulting in 46XX
where is parthenogenesis common?
in other parts of the animal kingdown such as reptiles, insects and fish - mourning gecko
when is the mammalian egg fertilised?
around the second prophase of the second meiotic division - around this time the first polar body has already been extruded and DNA has already replicated by the first meiotic division
what is the result by the second meiotic division?
two haploid pro nuclei
what happens if meiotic division goes wrong?
can retain the second polar body resulting in a diploid egg or products of the second meiotic division can be lost resulting in an empty egg with fertilisation from doubled up sperm or two sperm - same genetic material but all from father
what is a hydatidiform mole?
it is an androgenetic origin - complete moles have no recognisable embryo in pregnancy and are mostly 46 XX homozygous. there is proliferation of trophoblasts - tissue that is usually derived from embryo that goes on to form largest part of placenta and the uterus on USS will show vesicular, abnormal overgrown placenta
what is a complication of hydatidiform moles?
can develop into a malignant trophoblastic tumour and are non compatible with life so must be treated
what is an ovarian teratoma?
it is a very biologically abnormal tumour in the ovary from parthenogenic activation. It derives from parthenogenic conceptions and is derived from oocytes that have undergone their first or both meiotic divisions
what are characteristics of ovarian teratomas?
they are predominantly epithelial with no skeletal muscle, muscle and placenta. They are radio-opaque on an Xray with skin, hair and teeth and are developmental tumours
what happens if you induce a uniparental genome in a mouse?
it will mirror human pathologies
what have mouse studies shown us about angro and partenogenetic conception?
in parthenogenetic the embryos die due to failure to develop extraembryonic structures such as trophoblast or yolk sac, in androgenetic the embryo will die at the 6 somite stage due to overdeveloped extraembryonic membranes and little development of foetus itself
why does uniparental conception fail?
there are different roles of maternal and paternal genes in developing developmental fate
what is genomic imprinting?
mothers and fathers will imprint their genes with memory of their paternal or maternal origin - respective parents so have memory of origin
why does genomic imprinting mean that uniparental conception fails?
although the karyotype and the gene dosage is normal the imprinting results in a mechanism that ensures the functional non-equivalence of maternal and paternal genomes so that they are non exchangeable and non equivalent
how does genomic imprinting work?
it is not encoded in the DNA sequence - there is no systematic difference in the mother and father that explains the difference in parental origins. Instead it occurs through epigenetics – the modifications to the genome that occur and are laid down during gametogenesis which affects the expression of a small subset of 1-200 genes that are evolutionarily conserved
what is gametogenesis called for sperm and eggs?
spermatogenesis and oogenesis
what are the characteristics of angelman syndrome and how does it occur?
epigenetics can result in clinical pathologies. Angelman results in facial dysmorphism (prognthism, wide mouth, drooling and smiling appearance), seziure disorder, severe neurodevelopmental disorder, mental handicap (microcephaly and absent speech) and ataxic, jerky movements
what is prognathism?
it is jaw jut - relation of the mandible and maxilla to skeletal base
what is prader-willi syndrome?
it is a disorder that presents early on with neonatal floppy baby. It results in infantile hypotonia with feeding problems and gross motor delay, metal handicap, male hypogenitalism and cryptorchidism, small hands and feet, hyperphagia, stereotypic behaviour, early motor delay, neurodevelopmental delay
what is hyperphagia?
desire to eat a lot - around 4 years old will compulsively eat which leads to obesity
what is the genetic difference between AS and PWS?
they are both the deletion of chromosome 15 but due to functional non equivalence, and using molecular techniques have identified that PWS is deletion of paternal and AS maternal.
what is the recurrence risk of AS/PWS?
the recurrence risk is very low and it is always a de novo mutation that is highly likely to result in significant phenotype. It is not found in parents as is a significant genetic event.
where is the deletion on chromosome 15 for AS/PWS?
it is a del 15q11-q13