Chromatin Modifiers, Cognitive Disorders, and Imprinted Genes

Human imprinted retrogenes exhibit non-canonical imprint chromatin signatures and reside in non-imprinted host genes

Imprinted retrotransposed genes share a common genomic organization including a promoter-associated differentially methylated region (DMR) and a position within the intron of a multi-exonic 'host' gene. In the mouse, at least one transcript of the host gene is also subject to genomic imprinting. Human retrogene orthologues are imprinted and we reveal that human host genes are not imprinted. Thi...

Imprinted genes, cognition and behaviour.

The idea that genes can influence behavioural predispositions and their underlying psychological determinants is becoming increasingly tractable. In this article, recent findings are reviewed on a special type of inheritance, related to the transmission of traits via what have been termed 'imprinted' genes. In imprinted genes one allele is silenced according to its parental origin. This results...

Classification of Imprinted Genes

Diploid organisms have two copies of all genes. Each copy is inherited from one of the two parents of the organism. In most diploid organisms the genes are bi-allelically expressed i.e. both inherited copies of the gene are functional. However, a subset of mammalian genes are monoallelically expressed depending on the parent-of-origin. Either the copy inherited from the mother or the one from t...

Chromatin modifiers and remodellers in DNA repair and signalling.

The role of chromatin modifiers in normal and malignant hematopoiesis.

Complex developmental processes such as hematopoiesis require a series of precise and coordinated changes in cellular identity to ensure blood homeostasis. Epigenetic mechanisms help drive changes in gene expression that accompany the transition from hematopoietic stem cells to terminally differentiated blood cells. Genome-wide profiling technologies now provide valuable glimpses of epigenetic ...