Analysis of the pattern of X chromosome inactivation in bovine extra-embryonic tissue

• Grant number: 11/16399-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2012
• End date: July 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Lygia da Veiga Pereira
• Grantee: Fernando Galati Sábio
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In the X-chromosome inactivation (XCI), one of the two X chromosomes present in female mammals is silenced, resulting in a dosage compensation mechanism. The XCI can occur in a random fashion, where each cell chooses randomly which is the inactivated X chromosome, paternal (Xp) or maternal (Xm); or dependent on parental origin of X chromosome, ie, imprinted. While in female marsupials, inactivation occurs in an imprinted fashion, and the Xp is inactivated in all tissues, both somatic and extra-embryonic, in the mammalian eutherians XCI in the somatic tissues occurs randomly. But some eutherians still retain the imprinted XCI mechanism exclusively in extra-embryonic tissues, such as rats and mice. In humans, the controversial status of the XCI in placenta was re-evaluated by our group, using a wider analysis and identified a random pattern, unlike some of the previously published works. In cattle, due to its economic importance, many reproductive methods are employed, such as artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and cloning, grouped by name of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART), and is recognized the impact of these techniques in epigenetic mechanisms. However the pattern of ICX in bovine placenta is unclear. It was verified by analyzing the expression of a single gene, MAOA, and the authors concluded that the pattern was imprinted. Because only one gene has been studied and the fact that the MAOA gene is under analysis in our group due to a possible differential expression related to parental origin, the pattern of XCI shown an important issue to be clarified. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

SÁBIO, Fernando Galati. Analysis of X chromosome inactivation pattern in bovine extra-embryonic tissue. 2015. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB) São Paulo.