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The human SNRPN (small nuclear ribonucleoprotein polypeptide N) gene is one of a gene family that encode proteins involved in pre-mRNA splicing and maps to the smallest deletion region involved in the Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) within chromosome 15q11-q13. Paternal only expression of SNRPN has previously been demonstrated by use of cell lines from PWS patients (maternal allele only) and Angelman syndrome (AS) patients (paternal allele only). We have characterized two previously unidentified 5'exons of the SNRPN gene and demonstrate that exons-1 and 0 are included in the full-length transcript. This gene is expressed in a wide range of somatic tissues and at high, approximately equal levels in all regions of the brain. Both the first exon of SNRPN (exon-1) and the putative transcription start site are embedded within a CpG island. This CpG island is extensively methylated on the repressed …