Investigation of the role of epigenetic modification of the rat glucokinase gene in fetal programming.

Fetal environment (or fetal programming) plays an important role in the development of many organisms. At the molecular genetic level, it can also alter the expression of many genes, which will lead to the developmental disabilities such as the development of impaired glucose tolerance, diabetes and hypertension in many mammalian species, including human. In this paper, Bogdarina et al. proposed that DNA methylation could be one of the potential mechanisms that help to explain the association between the maternal low protein diet and the expression of hepatic glucokinase gene. Their findings suggest that programming may influence methylation pattern in Gck at a distance from the promoter, or in genes coding factors that regulate basal Gck expression.

Uyen Tran
ID: 41987494