Open AccessEctopic Expression of Retrotransposon-Derived PEG11/RTL1 Contributes to the Callipyge Muscular Hypertrophy
Author(s) -
Xuewen Xu,
Fabien Ectors,
Erica E. Davis,
Dimitri Pirottin,
Huijun Cheng,
Frédéric Farnir,
Tracy Hadfield,
Noelle Cockett,
Carole Charlier,
Michel Georges,
Hitoshi Takeda
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0140594
Subject(s) - muscle hypertrophy , ectopic expression , phenotype , biology , transgene , skeletal muscle , myocyte , microbiology and biotechnology , endocrinology , genetics , gene
The callipyge phenotype is an ovine muscular hypertrophy characterized by polar overdominance: only heterozygous + Mat /CLPG Pat animals receiving the CLPG mutation from their father express the phenotype. + Mat /CLPG Pat animals are characterized by postnatal, ectopic expression of Delta-like 1 homologue (DLK1) and Paternally expressed gene 11/Retrotransposon-like 1 (PEG11/RTL1) proteins in skeletal muscle. We showed previously in transgenic mice that ectopic expression of DLK1 alone induces a muscular hypertrophy, hence demonstrating a role for DLK1 in determining the callipyge hypertrophy. We herein describe newly generated transgenic mice that ectopically express PEG11 in skeletal muscle, and show that they also exhibit a muscular hypertrophy phenotype. Our data suggest that both DLK1 and PEG11 act together in causing the muscular hypertrophy of callipyge sheep.