Imprinting Flashcards
What are the structures involved with imprinting?
DNA methylation, 5-hydroxy-methylcytosine, histone modifications, remodelling complexes, histone variants, architectural proteins (CTCF/Cohesin) and non coding RNA (long non coding RNA).
What are the “players” in imprinting?
Epigenetic initiators, maintainers, readers and erasers.
What are the writers/initiators/establishers?
De novo methylation, DNmt 3a, 3b, histone methyltransferases, long-non coding RNAs, phosphorylases.
What are the maintainers?
Memory during differentiation/cell division - Dnmt1.
What are the readers?
DNA methylation binding proteins, transcription factors (bromodomains, chromodomains, PHD fingers, WD40 repeat).
What are the erasers?
Deacetylases, demethylases, phosphatases.
What is the function of the epigenome?
It maintains DNA integrity during the cell cycle, regulates gene expression, responds to nuclear, cytoplasmic and external environment. It remembers and reprograms.
What are some DNMT inhibitors?
Azacitidine, Decitavine, Zebularine.
What are some HDAC inhibitors?
Sodium phentylbutyrate, valproic acid, vorinostat, romidepsin, entinostat, panobinostat, belinostat.
Why did John Gurdon win a Nobel prize?
He eliminated the nucleus of a frog egg cell and replaced it with the nucleus from a specialised cell from a tadpole - the egg developed into a normal tadpole.
What did McGrath and Solter discover?
Completion of mouse embryogenesis requires both the maternal and paternal genomes.
What did Surani, Barton and Norris discover?
Development of reconstituted mouse eggs suggests that imprinting of the genome occurs during gametogenesis.
What does parthenogenic mean?
When some species eggs can develop into an embryo without need of fertilisation by sperm (female don’t need a male).
What experiments did John Gurdon also do?
He replaced a male pronucleus with a female one and the other way around to create embryos with 2 female or 2 male nuclei.
What does the primitive endoderm differentiate into?
Parietal endoderm and visceral endoderm.
What does the parietal endoderm form?
Part of the parietal yolk sac.
What can the visceral endoderm be divided into at day 6.5?
Extraembryonic visceral endoderm (covers the extraembryonic endoderm) and the embryonic visceral endoderm (covers the epiblast).
What do cells from the embryonic visceral endoderm contribute to?
The embryonic gut.
What do cells from the extraembryonic visceral endoderm contribute to?
The visceral yolk sac.
What is derived from the epiblast?
The embryo proper.
What are Prader-Willi/Angelman syndrome caused by?
A deletion of a chromosome.
Is it the maternal of paternal chromosome that is deleted in Prader-Willi?
Paternal or UPD of chromosome 15q11-q13.
Is it the maternal or paternal chromosome that is deleted in the Angelman syndrome?
Maternal copy/mutation of UBE3A gene or UPD of chromosome 15q11-q13.
What are the symptoms of Prader-Willi?
Language, motor and developmental delays, excessive weight gain.