The roles of maternal-effect proteins in the maintenance of genomic imprints

Abstract

Genomic imprinting is a mechanism of differentially epigenetic modification that restricts monoallelic expression to either the maternally or paternally inherited copy of the gene during gametogenesis. Imprinted methylation undergoes a process of erasure, acquisition, and maintenance during gametogenesis and early embryogenesis. Disruptions in any of these steps may lead to imprinting disorders, resulting in the aberrant development of embryogenesis, placentation and postnatal growth. Recent studies have shown that maternal-effect proteins are important for the regulation of imprinted gene during the development of preimplantation embryos. In order to obtain a better understanding for the mechanism of maternal-effect proteins in the maintenance of genomic imprints, the recent study progress of maternal-effect proteins, such as DPPA3, ZFP57, TRIM28 and DNMT1, are summarized, and the regulation mechanism of these maternal-effect proteins for genomic imprints are discussed.