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Epigenetic control of cell fate in mouse blastocysts: The role of covalent histone modifications and chromatin remodeling
Author(s) -
Paul Soumen,
Knott Jason G.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
molecular reproduction and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.745
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1098-2795
pISSN - 1040-452X
DOI - 10.1002/mrd.22219
Subject(s) - biology , epigenetics , inner cell mass , blastocyst , chromatin , chromatin remodeling , totipotent , histone , microbiology and biotechnology , cell fate determination , zygote , maternal to zygotic transition , genetics , embryonic stem cell , transcriptional regulation , embryo , transcription factor , embryogenesis , gene
SUMMARY The first cell‐fate decision in mammalian preimplantation embryos is the segregation of the inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) cell lineages. The ICM develops into the embryo proper, whereas the TE ensures embryo implantation and is the source of the extra‐embryonic trophoblast cell lineages, which contribute to the functional components of the placenta. The development of a totipotent zygote into a multi‐lineage blastocyst is associated with the generation of distinct transcriptional programs. Several key transcription factors participate in the ICM and TE‐specific transcriptional networks, and recent studies indicate that post‐translational histone modifications as well as ATP‐dependent chromatin remodeling complexes converge with these transcriptional networks to regulate ICM and TE lineage specification. This review will discuss our current understanding and future perspectives related to transcriptional and epigenetic regulatory mechanisms that are implicated in the initial mammalian lineage commitment steps, with a focus on events in mice. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 81: 171–182, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc .