Lecture 4 Flashcards
Which parental genome is more methylated?
Paternal
What happens to parental genome after fertilisation?
Active demethylation involving TET3 - increasing levels of 5-hmC
Which sequences escape methylation erasure after fertilisation?
Imprinted genes and repetitive sequences
How is DNA packaged in sperm?
Protamines rather then histones
What is a polar body?
Small haploid cell that is formed concomitantly as an egg cell during oogenesis
Why does TET3 only act on the paternal genome?
PGC7/Stella protects the maternal genome from TET3
PGC7 is found in both pronuclei, so why is the paternal genome not protected from TET3 action?
PGC7/Stella binds with high affinity to H3K9me - a histone mark not present in the paternal genome
How was PGC7’s high affinity binding to H3K9me shown by Nakamura?
Two gtreatments PT and TP
PT; first fixation and then triton wash= nothing washed as its fixed
TP; first triton wash weakly bound nucleus and then fixed.
Both genomes have PGC7 in PT treatment.
Paternal genome loses PGC7 in TP treatment, however, maternal does not, because it is bound to the H3K9me.
How does the maternal genome lose its methylation marks?
Passive loss as the cells divide due to failure to maintain
Why is the active process required for the paternal?
Possibly due the paternal having a higher level to start with
Why demethylate post-fertilisation?
To allow expression of some key genes that will be off in the gametes; pluripotency genes and genes required for trophoblast formation (e.g. Elf5)
What does the inner cell mass give rise to?
And the trophoectoderm?
The embryo
The placenta and all extra-embryonic tissues
Which gene is first turned off in the ES cells?
Elf5, to stop them forming trophoectoderm
When does most remethylation occur?
Why at this stage?
Stage of implantation
Up-regulation of DNA methyltransferases; Dnmt3a, Dnmt3b, Dnmt1
What mechanisms have been put forward to explain CpG island hypomethylation?
1) Direct inhibition (less evidence)
2) Demethylation (by TET)
3) Steric Hinderance (proteins bound there blocking action)
How are some CpG islands turned off post-implantation?
Sequence-specific targeted DNA methylation