Open AccessOxytocin receptor is regulated by Peg3
Author(s) -
Wesley D. Frey,
Kaustubh Sharma,
Terri L. Cain,
Katsuhiko Nishimori,
Ryoichi Teruyama,
Joomyeong Kim
Publication year - 2018
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.0202476
Subject(s) - oxytocin receptor , repressor , biology , oxytocin , exon , transcription (linguistics) , microbiology and biotechnology , regulator , gene , genomic imprinting , receptor , gene expression , genetics , endocrinology , dna methylation , linguistics , philosophy
Mouse Peg3 encodes a DNA-binding protein involved in the milk letdown process. In the current study, we tested whether PEG3 controls the expression of the oxytocin receptor gene. According to the results, PEG3 directly binds to a genomic region within the 3rd exon of Oxtr , which contains a DNA-binding motif for PEG3. In nursing female mice, removal of PEG3 resulted in the increased expression of Oxtr in mammary epithelial cells and also in the hypothalamus. This suggests a repressor role of PEG3 in the expression of Oxtr in these tissues. Overall, this study suggests that Peg3 may function as a direct transcriptional regulator for Oxtr expression that acts to moderate the milk letdown process.