Study of promoter DNA methylation of Sox11 and its correlation with tissue-specific expression in the laboratory mouse.

Sox11, a member of the group C Sox transcription factor family, is predominantly expressed in the neurogenic areas of the adult brain. In the embryo, Sox11 is expressed in the developing nervous system in both glial and neuronal lineages. Its expression exhibits a dynamic pattern with respect to both expression sites and expression levels. The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of de novo methylation in regulation of its tissue specific expression. The dynamics of de novo methylation of 24 CpGs is studied with the help of sodium bisulfite genomic DNA sequencing in the mouse brain, kidney and testis at different developmental stages i.e. 12.5 dpc, 18.5 dpc, and 5 dpp and adult stage. More sites were methylated in adult stages of tissues (brain, kidney and testis) in comparison to fetal as well as neonatal tissues. On the contrary Sox11 expression was high in fetal and neonatal stages in these tissues. Adult tissues show low expression of Sox11 gene. Thus Sox11, a developmentally important gene, sets a beautiful inverse correlation between methylation and expression.