Reprogramming towards pluripotency requires AID-dependent DNA demethylation
To elucidate regulatory mechanisms involved in reprogramming to generate pluripotent cells from somatic cells, this study generates interspecies heterokaryons (fused mouse ES cells and human fibroblasts) that induce reprogramming efficiently, rapidly and without cell division. SiRNA–mediated knockdown reveals that AID is required for active DNA demethylation and initiation of nuclear reprogramming towards pluripotency in human somatic cells.
Nidhi Bhutani, Jennifer J. Brady, Mara Damian, Alessandra Sacco, Stéphane Y. Corbel, & Helen M. Blau
doi:10.1038/nature08752
Genome-wide erasure of DNA methylation in mouse primordial germ cells is affected by AID deficiency
The extent of epigenetic reprogramming in mammalian primordial germ cells (PGCs) and in early embryos, and its molecular mechanisms, are poorly understood. DNA methylation profiling in PGCs now reveals a genome–wide erasure of methylation, with female PGCs being less methylated than male ones. A deficiency of the cytidine deaminase AID interferes with the genome–wide erasure of DNA methylation, indicating that AID has a critical function in epigenetic reprogramming.
Christian Popp, Wendy Dean, Suhua Feng, Shawn J. Cokus, Simon Andrews, Matteo Pellegrini, Steven E. Jacobsen & Wolf Reik
doi:10.1038/nature08829
本物の科学者が発見したAID。
生命科学において、日本が世界に誇る業績は京大から発信されている。