| Gene Summary: | Human chromosomal region 11p15.5 contains two clusters of epigenetically-regulated genes that are expressed from only one chromosome in a parent-of-origin manner. Each cluster, or imprinted domain, is regulated by a functionally independent imprinting control region (ICR). The human CDKN1C/KCNQ1OT1 domain is regulated by an ICR located in an intron of KCNQ1, and contains at least eight genes that are expressed exclusively or preferentially from the maternally-inherited allele. The DNA of the ICR is specifically methylated on the maternally-inherited chromosome, and unmethylated on the paternally-inherited chromosome. The ICR contains the promoter of the KCNQ1OT1 gene that is exclusively expressed from the paternal allele. The KCNQ1OT1 transcript is the antisense to the KCNQ1 gene and is a unspliced long non-coding RNA. It interacts with chromatin and regulates transcription of multiple target genes through epigenetic modifications. The transcript is abnormally expressed from both chromosomes in most patients with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, and the transcript also plays an important role in colorectal carcinogenesis. [provided by RefSeq, Apr 2012] |