The MAS proto-oncogene is not imprinted in humans

Recently it was shown that the murine Mas gene, which is located less than 300 kb from the imprinted Igf2r gene, is also imprinted in Day 11.5 embryos with expression exclusively from the paternal allele. We have assigned the human MAS gene to chromosomal bands 6q25.3-q26 in close proximity to the IGF2R gene. In contrast to its murine homologue, the human IGF2R gene is not imprinted. By making use of a novel intragenic polymorphism, we have studied the expression of the MAS gene in three heterozygous human fetuses. In all tissues examined, including tongue, biallelic expression of the MAS gene was observed. Hence both MAS and the neighboring IGF2R gene are not imprinted in humans.