Sex-specific transcriptional differences and loss of gene imprinting in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) occur more frequently in men and are associated with higher mortality in males; however, the molecular basis for these sexual dimorphisms is unclear. Here, we demonstrate that PNETs are associated with the emergence of unique sex-specific transcriptomic differences that are not observed in non-neoplastic pancreatic islet tissues. We also show that while widespread sex-specific differences are present in the DNA methylation landscapes of control pancreatic islets, they are erased in PNETs. This includes a loss of imprinting with regards to many genes. These results implicate an emergence of sex-associated genetic and epigenetic dysregulations in PNETs.

Genomic imprinted genes in reciprocal hybrid endosperm of Brassica napus

Background Genomic imprinting results in the expression of parent-of-origin-specific alleles in the offspring. Brassica napus is an oil crop with research values in polyploidization. Identification of imprinted genes in B. napus will enrich the knowledge of genomic imprinting in dicotyledon plants. Results In this study, we performed reciprocal crosses between B. napus L. cultivars Yangyou 6 (Y6) and Zhongshuang 11 (ZS11) to collect endosperm at 20 and 25 days after pollination (DAP) for RNA-seq. In total, we identified 297 imprinted genes, including 283 maternal expressed genes (MEGs) and 14 paternal expressed genes (PEGs) according to the SNPs between Y6 and ZS11. Only 36 genes (35 MEGs and 1 PEG) were continuously imprinted in 20 and 25 DAP endosperm. We found 15, 2, 5, 3, 10, and 25 imprinted genes in this study were also imprinted in Arabidopsis, rice, castor bean, maize, B. rapa, and other B. napus lines, respectively. Only 26 imprinted genes were specifically expressed in endosperm, while other genes were also expressed in root, stem, leaf and flower bud of B. napus. A total of 109 imprinted genes were clustered on rapeseed chromosomes. We found the LTR/Copia transposable elements (TEs) were most enriched in both upstream and downstream of the imprinted genes, and the TEs enriched around imprinted genes were more than non-imprinted genes. Moreover, the expression of 5 AGLs and 6 pectin-related genes in hybrid endosperm were significantly changed comparing with that in parent endosperm. Conclusion This research provided a comprehensive identification of imprinted genes in B. napus, and enriched the gene imprinting in dicotyledon plants, which would be useful in further researches on how gene imprinting regulates seed development.