Genome-wide analysis of expression modes and DNA methylation status at sense-antisense transcript loci in mouse

The functionality of sense-antisense transcripts (SATs), although widespread throughout the mammalian genome, is largely unknown. Here, we analyzed the SATs expression and its associated promoter DNA methylation status by surveying 12 tissues of mice to gain insights into the relationship between expression and DNA methylation of SATs. We have found that sense and antisense expression positively correlate in most tissues. However, in some SATs with tissue-specific expression, the expression level of a transcript from a CpG island-bearing promoter is low when the promoter DNA methylation is present. In these circumstances, the expression level of its opposite-strand transcript, especially when it is poly(A)-negative was coincidentally higher. These observations suggest that, albeit the general tendency of sense-antisense simultaneous expression, some antisense transcripts have coordinated expression with its counterpart sense gene promoter methylation. This cross-strand relationship is not a privilege of imprinted genes but seems to occur widely in SATs.