Oppositely imprinted genes p57(Kip2) and igf2 interact in a mouse model for Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome. Author T Caspary, M Cleary, E Perlman, P Zhang, S Elledge, S Tilghman Publication Year 1999 Type Journal Article Abstract Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is a clinically variable disorder characterized by somatic overgrowth, macroglossia, abdominal wall defects, visceromegaly, and an increased susceptibility to childhood tumors. The disease has been linked to a large cluster of imprinted genes at human chromosome 11p15.5. A subset of BWS patients has been identified with loss-of-function mutations in p57(KIP2), a maternally expressed gene encoding a G(1) cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor. Some patients display loss of imprinting of IGF2, a fetal-specific growth factor that is paternally expressed. To understand how the same disease can result from misregulation of two linked, but unrelated, genes, we generated a mouse model for BWS that both harbors a null mutation in p57(Kip2) and displays loss of Igf2 imprinting. These mice display many of the characteristics of BWS, including placentomegaly and dysplasia, kidney dysplasia, macroglossia, cleft palate, omphalocele, and polydactyly. Some, but not all, of the phenotypes are shown to be Igf2 dependent. In two affected tissues, the two imprinted genes appear to act in an antagonistic manner, a finding that may help explain how BWS can arise from mutations in either gene. Keywords Animals, Female, Male, Mice, Humans, Phenotype, Fungal Proteins, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Genomic Imprinting, Muscle Proteins, RNA, Long Noncoding, RNA, Untranslated, Molecular Motor Proteins, Genes, Lethal, Mice, Mutant Strains, Insulin-Like Growth Factor II, Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome, Bone and Bones, Bone Development, Cleft Palate, Fetal Death, Fetal Proteins, Genetic Heterogeneity, Kidney, Mice, Knockout, Microtubule-Associated Proteins, Organ Size, Placenta Journal Genes Dev Volume 13 Issue 23 Pages 3115-24 Date Published 12/1999 Alternate Journal Genes Dev. Google ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML