Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

H19 in the pouch

Nature Genetics volume 40, pages 932–933 (2008)Cite this article

The linked maternally expressed H19 and paternally expressed Igf2 genes use a CTCF-dependent DNA methylation–sensitive insulator to govern their allele-specific imprinting patterns. Contrary to expectations, a new study shows that the noncoding H19 RNA has a marsupial ortholog and that key features of the locus are similar, indicating that the imprinting regulation of this locus is conserved among therian mammals.

In 1991, the first three imprinted genes were described in mice, with H19 and Igf2 as two of the three1. For well over a decade, numerous groups have been frustrated by attempts to identify a marsupial ortholog of the H19 noncoding RNA (ncRNA), suggesting that one may not exist. However, on page 971 of this issue, Smits and colleagues discover that marsupials have an H19 gene and that its most notable features, including gene structure, miRNA, imprinted status and Igf2 proximity, are conserved2.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Conserved H19-associated features in mouse and wallaby.

References

  1. Bartolomei, M.S., Zemel, S. & Tilghman, S.M. Nature 351, 153–155 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Smits, G. et al. Nat. Genet. 40, 971–976 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Pachnis, V., Belayew, A. & Tilghman, S.M. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81, 5523–5527 (1984).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Davis, R.L., Weintraub, H. & Lassar, A.B. Cell 51, 987–1000 (1987).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Tilghman, S.M. et al. in Nuclear Processes and Oncogenes (ed. Sharp, P.A.) 188–200 (Academic Press, New York, 1992).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Hao, Y., Crenshaw, T., Moulton, T., Newcomb, E. & Tycko, B. Nature 365, 764–767 (1993).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Leighton, P.A., Ingram, R.S., Eggenschwiler, J., Efstratiadis, A. & Tilghman, S.M. Nature 375, 34–39 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Mineno, J. et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 34, 1765–1771 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Reik, W. & Murrell, A. Nature 405, 408–409 (2000).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Edwards, C.A. & Ferguson-Smith, A.C. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 19, 281–289 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Ripoche, M.-A., Chantal, K., Poirier, F. & Dandolo, L. Genes Dev. 11, 1596–1604 (1997).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. O'Neill, M.J., Ingram, R.S., Vrana, P.B. & Tilghman, S.M. Dev. Genes Evol. 210, 18–20 (2000).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Edwards, C.A. et al. PLoS Biol. 6, e135 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Lawton, B.R. et al. BMC Genomics 9, 205 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Li, E., Beard, C. & Jaenisch, R. Nature 366, 362–365 (1993).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marisa S. Bartolomei and Sebastien Vigneau are at the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. bartolom@mail.med.upenn.edu,

    Marisa S Bartolomei & Sebastien Vigneau

  2. Michael J. O'Neill is at the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA.,

    Michael J O'Neill

Authors
  1. Marisa S Bartolomei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sebastien Vigneau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michael J O'Neill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bartolomei, M., Vigneau, S. & O'Neill, M. H19 in the pouch. Nat Genet 40, 932–933 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0808-932

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0808-932

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing