Double bromodomain-containing gene Brd2 is essential for embryonic development in mouse. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • The BET subfamily of bromodomain-containing genes is characterized by the presence of two bromodomains and a unique ET domain at their carboxyl termini. Here, we show that the founding member of this subfamily, Brd2, is an essential gene by generating a mutant mouse line lacking Brd2 function. Homozygous Brd2 mutants are embryonic lethal, with most Brd2(-/-) embryos dying by embryonic day 11.5. Before death, the homozygous embryos were notably smaller and exhibited abnormalities in the neural tube where the gene is highly expressed. Brd2-deficient embryonic fibroblast cells were observed to proliferate more slowly than controls. Experiments to explore whether placental insufficiency could be a cause of the embryonic lethality showed that injecting diploid mutant embryonic stem cells into tetraploid wild-type blastocysts did not rescue the lethality; that is Brd2-deficient embryos could not be rescued by wild-type extraembryonic tissues. Furthermore, there were enhanced levels of cell death in Brd2-deficient embryos.

publication date

  • April 1, 2009

Research

keywords

  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC2771124

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 63849121338

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1002/dvdy.21911

PubMed ID

  • 19301389

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 238

issue

  • 4