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Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Quantitative Analysis of Protein Expression to Study Lineage Specification in Mouse Preimplantation Embryos
Published on: February 22, 2016
[Embryonic genome organization after fertilization in mammals]
Nathalie Beaujean1, Karlla Mason, Amélie Bonnet-Garnier
1INRA, UMR1198 Biologie du Développement et Reproduction, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas, France. nathalie.beaujean@jouy.inra.fr
Abstract:
In mammals, the embryonic genome is first transcriptionally inactive after fertilization. Embryonic development is then strictly dependent on the maternally inherited RNA and proteins accumulated before ovulation and present in the oocyte cytoplasm. The onset of embryonic gene expression is initiated later during development, i.e. during the "embryonic genome activation (EGA)". EGA takes place at various preimplantation stages according to species and is dependent on the presence of the basal transcriptional machinery components but also on parental genomes reorganizations after fertilization. Indeed, during the first embryonic cycles, nuclei undergo intense remodeling that could be a key regulator of embryonic development.
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