Institut de Génétique Moléculaire, CNRS UMR-5535 and Universités de Montpellier, 1919, route de Mende, 34090 Montpellier, France.
Reproduction. 2010 Sep;140(3):411-23. doi: 10.1530/REP-10-0173. Epub 2010 May 25.
The cis-acting regulatory sequences of imprinted gene loci, called imprinting control regions (ICRs), acquire specific imprint marks in germ cells, including DNA methylation. These epigenetic imprints ensure that imprinted genes are expressed exclusively from either the paternal or the maternal allele in offspring. The last few years have witnessed a rapid increase in studies on how and when ICRs become marked by and subsequently maintain such epigenetic modifications. These novel findings are summarised in this review, which focuses on the germline acquisition of DNA methylation imprints and particularly on the combined role of primary sequence specificity, chromatin configuration, non-histone proteins and transcriptional events.
印迹基因座的顺式作用调控序列，称为印迹控制区（ICR），在生殖细胞中获得特定的印迹标记，包括 DNA 甲基化。这些表观遗传印记确保印迹基因仅从后代的父本或母本等位基因中表达。在过去的几年中，人们对 ICR 如何以及何时通过随后维持这种表观遗传修饰进行了大量研究。这些新发现总结在本综述中，重点介绍了 DNA 甲基化印记在生殖系中的获得，特别是初级序列特异性、染色质构象、非组蛋白和转录事件的综合作用。
