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The "occlusis" model of cell fate restriction
1Department of Human Genetics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. blahn@bsd.uchicago.edu
Abstract:
A simple model, termed "occlusis", is presented here to account for both cell fate restriction during somatic development and reestablishment of pluripotency during reproduction. The model makes three assertions: (1) A gene's transcriptional potential can assume one of two states: the "competent" state, wherein the gene is responsive to, and can be activated by, trans-acting factors in the cellular milieu, and the "occluded" state, wherein the gene is blocked by cis-acting, chromatin-based mechanisms from responding to trans-acting factors such that it remains silent irrespective of whether transcriptional activators are present in the milieu. (2) As differentiation proceeds in somatic lineages, lineage-inappropriate genes shift progressively and irreversibly from competent to occluded state, thereby leading to the restriction of cell fate. (3) During reproduction, global deocclusion takes place in the germline and/or early zygotic cells to reset the genome to the competent state in order to facilitate a new round of organismal development.
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