Conserved DNA methylation in Gadd45a(-/-) mice

Epigenetics. 2009 Feb 16;4(2):98-9. doi: 10.4161/epi.4.2.7858. Epub 2009 Feb 15.

Abstract

Gadd45a (growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible protein 45 alpha) plays a pivotal role in cellular stress responses and is implicated in DNA repair, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.(1) Recently, it was proposed that GADD45A is a key regulator of active DNA demethylation by way of its role in DNA repair.(2) Barreto et al. reported that Gadd45a overexpression activated transcription from methylation-silenced reporter plasmids and promoted global DNA demethylation. siRNA-mediated knockdown of Gadd45a levels resulted in increased levels of DNA methylation at specific endogenous loci. Based on these exciting results, Gadd45a(-/-) mice might be predicted to have a hypermethylation phenotype. We report here that neither global nor locus-specific methylation is increased in Gadd45a(-/-) mice.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • DNA Methylation* / drug effects
  • DNA Repair
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Nuclear Proteins / deficiency*
  • RNA, Small Interfering / pharmacology

Substances

  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • Gadd45a protein, mouse
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • RNA, Small Interfering