Assignment of the gene (MBD3) encoding methyl-CpG binding domain protein 3 to porcine chromosome 2q21→q22 by somatic cell and radiation hybrid panel mapping

Abstract

DNA methylation is the major modification of eukaryotic genomes and plays an essential role in mammalian development. Human proteins MeCP2, MBD1, MBD2, MBD3, and MBD4 comprise a family of nuclear proteins related by the presence of a methyl-CpG binding domain (MBD). Each of these proteins, with the exception of MBD3, is capable of binding specifically to methylated DNA. MBD3 is a subunit of the NuRD, a multisubunit complex containing nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylase activities. MBD3 mediates the association of metastasis-associated protein 2 (MTA2) with the core histone deacetylase complex. The human MBD3 gene was localized on 19p13 (Hendrich et al., 1999). In this study, using somatic cell hybrid cells and a radiation hybrid panel we have mapped gene MBD3 to porcine chromosome 2, thus confirming the expected localization of the gene in the swine genome.