Volume 21, No 3, Mar 2011

ISSN: 1001-0602 
EISSN: 1748-7838 2018 
impact factor 17.848* 
(Clarivate Analytics, 2019)

Volume 21 Issue 3, March 2011: 466-473

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Genomic imprinting in mammals: its life cycle, molecular mechanisms and reprogramming

Yufeng Li and Hiroyuki Sasaki

Division of Epigenomics, Department of Molecular Genetics, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan Correspondence: Hiroyuki Sasaki,(hsasaki@bioreg.kyushu-u.ac.jp)

Genomic imprinting, an epigenetic gene-marking phenomenon that occurs in the germline, leads to parental-origin-specific expression of a small subset of genes in mammals. Imprinting has a great impact on normal mammalian development, fetal growth, metabolism and adult behavior. The epigenetic imprints regarding the parental origin are established during male and female gametogenesis, passed to the zygote through fertilization, maintained throughout development and adult life, and erased in primordial germ cells before the new imprints are set. In this review, we focus on the recent discoveries on the mechanisms involved in the reprogramming and maintenance of the imprints. We also discuss the epigenetic changes that occur at imprinted loci in induced pluripotent stem cells.

Cell Research (2011) 21:466-473. doi:10.1038/cr.2011.15; published online 1 February 2011

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