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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Chromatin Spread Preparations for the Analysis of Mouse Oocyte Progression from Prophase to Metaphase II
Published on: February 26, 2018
Pericentric heterochromatin: dynamic organization during early development in mammals
Aline V Probst1, Geneviève Almouzni
1Laboratory of Nuclear Dynamics and Genome Plasticity, UMR 218 CNRS/Institut Curie 26, rue d'Ulm, 75248 Paris Cedex 5, France.
Abstract:
Constitutive heterochromatin in mammals is essentially found at centromeres, which are key chromosomal elements that ensure proper chromosome segregation. These regions are considered to be epigenetically defined, given that it is not sequence composition but chromatin organization that defines centromere function. How such an epigenetically defined domain, like the centromere, can be established during development and maintained during somatic cell life are fundamental questions. This review discusses the most recent insights into centromeric heterochromatin organization and replication. We further highlight the plasticity of this domain by describing the large-scale re-organization that occurs during development.
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