24
April 2003
Genetics: Silent triplets
Triplet repeats are common in the human genome, but when a change in the repeat's length occurs and is retained through generations the gene is disrupted. Triplet repeat expansions cause over a dozen diseases, including myotonic dystrophy and Friedreich's ataxia, when the triplets repress, or silence, nearby genes. In a mouse model, Saveliev et al. show that silencing occurs at many points along the chromosome, not just near heterochromatin as previously believed. Modifying triplet positions, then, may modify the severity of disease caused by triplet repeat expansion.
DNA triplet repeats mediate heterochromatin-protein-1-sensitive variegated gene silencing
ALEXANDER SAVELIEV, CHRISTOPHER EVERETT, TAMMY SHARPE, ZO� WEBSTER & RICHARD FESTENSTEIN
Nature 422, 909–913 (2003); doi:10.1038/nature01596
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