QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online February 24, 2006

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Dnmt3b in development and ICF

Widespread de novo DNA methylation normally occurs during embryonic development but which genes are regulated by this epigenetic process is unknown. Now clues to their identity may come from the two mouse strains described on p. 1183 by En Li and colleagues. These mice carry missense mutations in DNA methyltransferase 3B (Dnmt3b). In humans, DNMT3B mutations cause a rare inherited disorder called ICF (for immunodeficiency, centromeric instability and facial anomalies) syndrome. To create an animal model of ICF and to investigate the role of Dnmt3b in mouse development, the researchers generated mice with a null Dnmt3b allele and also mice carrying one of two ICF-like missense mutations. The Dnmt3b null allele caused embryonic lethality, but mice carrying homozygous ICF mutations survived to term and exhibited a phenotype that resembled that of human ICF patients. The researchers conclude that Dnmt3b is essential for mouse embryonic development and propose that ICF missense mutations cause only a partial loss of DNMT3B function.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in Development:

Roles for Dnmt3b in mammalian development: a mouse model for the ICF syndrome

Yoshihide Ueda, Masaki Okano, Christine Williams, Taiping Chen, Katia Georgopoulos, and En Li
Development 2006 133: 1183-1192. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?