Skip Navigation



Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on October 23, 2006
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/del379
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrowOA All Versions of this Article:
22/2/457    most recent
del379v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Shovlin, T.C.
Right arrow Articles by Walsh, C.P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Shovlin, T.C.
Right arrow Articles by Walsh, C.P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received July 13, 2006
Revised August 22, 2006
Accepted August 31, 2006

Article

Sex-specific promoters regulate Dnmt3L expression in mouse germ cells

T.C. Shovlin 1, D. Bourc’his 2, S. La Salle 3, A. O’Doherty 4, J.M. Trasler 3, T.H. Bestor 5, and C.P. Walsh 4 *

1 Stem Cells and Epigenetics Research Group, Centre for Molecular Biosciences, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine, UK; Present address: The Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, The Henry Wellcome Building of Cancer and Developmental Biology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QN, UK
2 Department of Genetics and Development, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; Present address: INSERM U741, Institut Jacques Monod, 2 Place Jussieu, 75251 Paris, CEDEX 05, France
3 Montreal Children’s Hospital Research Institute and Departments of Pediatrics, Human Genetics, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
4 Stem Cells and Epigenetics Research Group, Centre for Molecular Biosciences, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine, UK
5 Department of Genetics and Development, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
C.P. Walsh, E-mail: cp.walsh{at}ulster.ac.uk


  Abstract

BACKGROUND: Dnmt3L, a member of the DNA methyltransferase 3 family, lacks enzymatic activity but is required for de-novo methylation of imprinted genes in oocytes and for transposon repression in male germ cells. METHODS: We used northern blots, RT-PCR, 5' rapid amplification of complementary DNA (cDNA) ends (RACE), RNase H mapping, real-time/quantitative RT-PCR and in situ hybridization to identify and characterize Dnmt3L transcripts produced during germ cell development. RESULTS: Mouse Dnmt3L uses three sex-specific promoters, not the single promoter previously thought. A promoter active in prospermatogonia drives transcription of an mRNA encoding the full-length protein in perinatal testis, where de-novo methylation occurs. Late pachytene spermatocytes activate a second promoter in intron 9 of the Dnmt3L gene. After this stage, the predominant transcripts are three truncated mRNAs, which appear to be non-coding. We could also detect similar adult testis transcripts in humans. In the mouse ovary, an oocyte-specific promoter located in an intron of the neighbouring autoimmune regulator (Aire) gene produces a transcript with the full open reading frame (ORF). This is the only Dnmt3L transcript found in growing oocytes and is absent in the oocytes of Dnmt3L-/- females. CONCLUSIONS: Sex-specific promoters control Dnmt3L expression in the mouse germ line, mirroring the situation at the Dnmt1 and Dnmt3A loci.

Keywords: Dnmt3L/imprinting/oocyte/promoter/testis.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Hum Mol GenetHome page
Y.-G. Hu, R. Hirasawa, J.-L. Hu, K. Hata, C.-L. Li, Y. Jin, T. Chen, E. Li, M. Rigolet, E. Viegas-Pequignot, et al.
Regulation of DNA methylation activity through Dnmt3L promoter methylation by Dnmt3 enzymes in embryonic development
Hum. Mol. Genet., September 1, 2008; 17(17): 2654 - 2664.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Biol. Reprod.Home page
W. Ma, G. C. Horvath, M. K. Kistler, and W. S. Kistler
Expression Patterns of SP1 and SP3 During Mouse Spermatogenesis: SP1 Down-Regulation Correlates with Two Successive Promoter Changes and Translationally Compromised Transcripts
Biol Reprod, August 1, 2008; 79(2): 289 - 300.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Immunol.Home page
C. E. Schaller, C. L. Wang, G. Beck-Engeser, L. Goss, H. S. Scott, M. S. Anderson, and M. Wabl
Expression of Aire and the Early Wave of Apoptosis in Spermatogenesis
J. Immunol., February 1, 2008; 180(3): 1338 - 1343.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J AndrolHome page
K. Biermann and K. Steger
Epigenetics in Male Germ Cells
J Androl, July 1, 2007; 28(4): 466 - 480.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ScienceHome page
C. B. Schaefer, S. K. T. Ooi, T. H. Bestor, and D. Bourc'his
Epigenetic Decisions in Mammalian Germ Cells
Science, April 20, 2007; 316(5823): 398 - 399.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.