Murphy S K, Jirtle R L
Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
Environ Health Perspect. 2000 Mar;108 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):5-11. doi: 10.1289/ehp.00108s15.
Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon in eutherian mammals that results in the differential expression of the paternally and maternally inherited alleles of a gene. Imprinted genes are necessary for normal mammalian development. This requirement has been proposed to have evolved because of an interparental genetic battle for the utilization of maternal resources during gestation and postnatally. The nonrandom requisite for monoallelic expression of a subset of genes has also resulted in the formation of susceptibility loci for neurobehavioral disorders, developmental disorders, and cancer. Since imprinting involves both cytosine methylation within CpG islands and changes in chromatin structure, imprinted genes are potential targets for dysregulation by epigenetic toxicants that modify DNA methylation and histone acetylation.
基因组印记是真兽亚纲哺乳动物中的一种表观遗传现象,它导致一个基因的父本和母本遗传等位基因的差异表达。印记基因对于正常的哺乳动物发育是必需的。有人提出这种需求的进化是因为在妊娠和产后父母之间为利用母体资源而进行的基因争夺。单等位基因表达的一组基因的非随机必要性也导致了神经行为障碍、发育障碍和癌症的易感基因座的形成。由于印记涉及CpG岛内的胞嘧啶甲基化以及染色质结构的变化,印记基因是通过改变DNA甲基化和组蛋白乙酰化的表观遗传毒物导致失调的潜在靶点。