Imprinting is implicated in Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Imprinting is a phenomenon in which specific genes are expressed only from one parent's allele due to DNA methylation. Both Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes are caused by abnormalities in genomic imprinting. In Prader-Willi syndrome, the paternal allele of a cluster of genes on chromosome 15 is missing, while the maternal allele is unexpressed due to imprinting. In Angelman syndrome, the maternal allele of the same gene cluster is absent or mutated, while the paternal allele is silenced due to imprinting.

Imprinting Is Implicated in Prader-Willi and Angelman Syndromes