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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Loss- and Gain-of-function Approach to Investigate Early Cell Fate Determinants in Preimplantation Mouse Embryos
Published on: June 6, 2016
Epigenetic dynamics of imprinted X inactivation during early mouse development
Ikuhiro Okamoto1, Arie P Otte, C David Allis
1CNRS UMR218, Curie Institute, 26 rue d'Ulm, Paris 75005, France.
Abstract:
The initiation of X-chromosome inactivation is thought to be tightly correlated with early differentiation events during mouse development. Here, we show that although initially active, the paternal X chromosome undergoes imprinted inactivation from the cleavage stages, well before cellular differentiation. A reversal of the inactive state, with a loss of epigenetic marks such as histone modifications and polycomb proteins, subsequently occurs in cells of the inner cell mass (ICM), which give rise to the embryo-proper in which random X inactivation is known to occur. This reveals the remarkable plasticity of the X-inactivation process during preimplantation development and underlines the importance of the ICM in global reprogramming of epigenetic marks in the early embryo.
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