Abstract
The mouse Polycomb-group gene, embryonic ectoderm development (eed), appears to regulate cellular growth and differentiation in a developmental and tissue specific manner. During embryogenesis, eed regulates axial patterning, whereas in the adult eed represses proliferation of myeloid and B cell precursors. The present report demonstrates two novel functional activities of eed: alteration of thymocyte maturation and suppression of thymic lymphoma development. Mice that inherit the viable hypomorphic 17Rn51989SB eed allele sustain a partial developmental block at or before the CD4-CD8-CD44-CD25+ stage of thymocyte differentiation. Furthermore, mice that are homozygous or heterozygous for the hypomorphic eed allele have an increased incidence and decreased latency of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced thymic lymphoma compared to wild-type littermates. These findings support the notion that Polycomb-group genes exert pleiotrophic effects dictated by developmental stage and cellular context.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 299-306 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Oncogene |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2002 |
Keywords
- Eed
- Lymphomagenesis
- Polycom-group gene
- Thymocyte differentiation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
- Cancer Research