AbstractDue to DNA technology, it is now apparent that the mechanisms of genetic disease are more complex than the model of a gene with biallelic expression in the diploid state. If a gene is imprinted, monoallelic expression is the norm when the chromosomes of a pair are inherited normally from each parent. Uniparental disomy (UPD) is the abnormal situation where both chromosomes of a pair come from the same parent. When the chromosome contains an imprinted gene, UPD may result in nullisomy or disomy for a functional copy of that gene. If there are two imprinted loci on the same chromosome, UPD for that chromosome results in nullisomy for one imprinted gene but functional disomy for the other a “diploid overdose” (DO). This situation has been well demonstrated in the Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) which is the nullisomic phenotype for the PWS gene(s) on chromosome 15q 11-13. Chromosome 15q11-13 also contains the gene for Angelman syndrome (AS) which has a phenotype distinct from PWS. Both loci are subject to imprinting – in PWS, the imprint is on the maternal chromosome 15, in AS it is on the paternal chromosome 15. All individuals with PWS due to maternal UPD, while functionally nullisomic for the PWS locus, are functionally disomic for the AS locus – a DO situation. Assuming that biallelic expression of an imprinted gene is harmful, one would expect DO for an imprinted gene to produce a phenotypic effect. Cases of PWS due to UPD do not appear to differ from those due to deletion (hypopigmentation in deletional cases can be explained by loss of D15S12 downstream from the critical region). There is no good evidence of DO for the AS locus in PWS due to UPD. Why then was it ‘necessary’ in evolutionary terms to imprint the AS locus and maintain the imprint faithfully for life. A similar situation of two imprinted genes on the same chromosome occurs with IGF2 and H19 on chromosome 11p15. Maternal imprinting for IGF2 and paternal imprinting for H19 is the norm. Paternal UPD in this situation does lead to a DO effect, namely Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome. The possibility of a DO effect needs to be considered when assessing the phenotypic spectrum of UPD for other chromosomes currently under investigation.
An Unexpected Function of the Prader-Willi Syndrome Imprinting Center in Maternal Imprinting in Mice
