The team used advanced sequencing technology and analysis tools to globally assess allele usage in two different cell types.
They compared embryonic stem cells which can change or 'differentiate' into nearly any type of tissue with cells that had already differentiated into the precursors of neurons.
They found a 5.6-fold increase in the number of monoallelically expressed genes in the differentiated cells.
The team was surprised to find that 8 percent of the monoallelically expressed genes were able to boost their level of expression to compensate for what would otherwise be a shortfall.
“This work raises many important questions like how does the cell know how much of each protein to produce? How much flexibility is there? What is the tipping point toward disease?” noted Spector.
