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A mono‐allelic bivalent chromatin domain controls tissue‐specific imprinting at Grb10
Author(s) -
Sanz Lionel A,
Chamberlain Stormy,
Sabourin JeanCharles,
Henckel Amandine,
Magnuson Terry,
Hugnot JeanPhilippe,
Feil Robert,
Arnaud Philippe
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1038/emboj.2008.142
Subject(s) - chapel , biology , library science , genetics , art history , art , computer science
Genomic imprinting is a developmental mechanism that mediates parent‐of‐origin‐specific expression in a subset of genes. How the tissue specificity of imprinted gene expression is controlled remains poorly understood. As a model to address this question, we studied Grb10 , a gene that displays brain‐specific expression from the paternal chromosome. Here, we show in the mouse that the paternal promoter region is marked by allelic bivalent chromatin enriched in both H3K4me2 and H3K27me3, from early embryonic stages onwards. This is maintained in all somatic tissues, but brain. The bivalent domain is resolved upon neural commitment, during the developmental window in which paternal expression is activated. Our data indicate that bivalent chromatin, in combination with neuronal factors, controls the paternal expression of Grb10 in brain. This finding highlights a novel mechanism to control tissue‐specific imprinting.