Epigenetic reprogramming of mouse germ cells toward totipotency

Primordial germ cells (PGCs), the precursors of sperm and eggs, are the route to totipotency and require establishment of a unique epigenome in this lineage. The genetic program for PGC specification in the mouse also initiates epigenetic reprogramming that continues when PGCs migrate into the developing gonads. Among these later events is active and genome-wide DNA demethylation, which is linked to extensive chromatin remodeling. These extensive epigenetic changes erase most, if not all, of the existing epigenetic information, which resets the epigenome for totipotency. Recent evidence suggests that active DNA demethylation involves a base excision repair (BER) pathway. BER is mechanistically linked to DNA demethylation, but what triggers BER is currently under investigation. The methylated cytosine (5mC) could be modified by deamination or to 5hmC, which could induce BER. Detection of Tet1 expression specifically and coincidentally, at the time of BER in PGCs, suggests that conversion of 5mC to 5hmC might be involved, at least in part, during epigenetic reprogramming and DNA demethylation in germ cells.