[Inter-tissue differences in the C-polymorphic regions of human embryo chromosomes: possible role of DNA methylation]

Sizes of C-band heterochromatin regions were estimated in embryonic and extraembryonic lineages. These regions in chromosomes 1 and 16, containing mainly satellite 2 DNA, were significantly longer in extraembryonic tissues than in embryonic tissues. The differences in length between chromosome 9 C-band heterochromatin, which contained satellite 3 DNA, and Y chromosome C-band, which contained all four classical satellite types, were not significant between the two tissues. Our data, together with other findings on the correlation between chromosome compactization and DNA methylation, indicated that the observed variations in C-band length reflected a tissue-specific pattern of heterochromatin methylation. Satellite 2 DNA probably was the most sensitive target for the decondensation effect of DNA methylation compared with other satellite types.