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Updated: May 8, 2026
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Repressing Gene Transcription by Redirecting Cellular Machinery with Chemical Epigenetic Modifiers
Published on: September 20, 2018
Chromatin changes in reprogramming of mammalian somatic cells
Rong Xu1, Shiqiang Zhang, Anmin Lei
1College of Veterinary Medicine, Shaanxi Centre of Stem Cells Engineering and Technology, Key Lab for Animal Biotechnology of Ministry of Agriculture of China, Northwest A&F University , Yangling, Shaanxi, P.R. China .
Rejuvenation Research
|August 31, 2013
Summary
Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), cell fusion, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) offer reprogramming but face low efficiency and unclear mechanisms. This review explores chromatin changes like X chromosome inactivation and histone modifications in these processes.
Area of Science:
- Cellular reprogramming
- Epigenetics
- Developmental biology
Background:
- Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), cell fusion, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are key technologies for cellular reprogramming.
- Current reprogramming methods suffer from low efficiency and incompletely understood mechanisms.
- Chromatin dynamics are increasingly recognized as critical regulators in these reprogramming strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the role of chromatin modifications in SCNT, cell fusion, and iPSC generation.
- To provide insights into the mechanisms underlying nuclear reprogramming.
- To highlight areas for future research in cellular reprogramming.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on SCNT, cell fusion, and iPSCs.
- Analysis of studies focusing on chromatin changes during reprogramming.
- Discussion of specific epigenetic mechanisms including X chromosome inactivation, chromatin decondensation, remodeling, histone modifications, and histone variants.
Main Results:
- Chromatin alterations, including X chromosome inactivation, play a significant role in reprogramming efficiency.
- Histone modifications and histone variants are crucial for modulating transcription factor binding and facilitating reprogramming.
- Decondensation and remodeling of chromatin are essential steps in the transition from somatic to pluripotent states.
Conclusions:
- Understanding chromatin dynamics is vital for improving nuclear reprogramming efficiency.
- Further research into epigenetic mechanisms can unlock new strategies for generating pluripotent cells.
- This review provides a framework for future investigations into the complex processes of cellular reprogramming.
Related Concept Videos
01:32Chromatin Modification in iPS Cells
Chromatin modification alters gene expression; therefore, scientists can add histone-modifying enzymes, histone variants, and chromatin remodeling complexes to somatic cells to aid reprogramming into pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
Compact chromatin makes reprogramming difficult. Enzymes, such as histone demethylases and acetyltransferases, are often added during reprogramming to loosen the chromatin, making the DNA more accessible to transcription factors. Molecules that inhibit histone...
Compact chromatin makes reprogramming difficult. Enzymes, such as histone demethylases and acetyltransferases, are often added during reprogramming to loosen the chromatin, making the DNA more accessible to transcription factors. Molecules that inhibit histone...
01:29Somatic to iPS Cell Reprogramming
Reprogramming alters the gene expression in somatic cells, transforming them into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells over several generations. Scientists can reprogram cells by introducing genes for four transcription factors—Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM) by viral or non-viral methods. These factors are also known as Yamanaka factors after Shinya Yamanaka, who first generated iPS cells using mouse skin cells. Yamanaka was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012 for this...
01:24Methods of Nuclear Reprogramming
Nuclear reprogramming is a process of transforming one cell type into an unrelated cell type by epigenetic changes that alter the cell’s original gene expression pattern. Such epigenetic changes force cells to express a different set of genes, which play a significant role in inducing transformation into other cell types. Nuclear reprogramming offers applications in reproductive cloning for livestock propagation and regenerative medicine — developing patient-specific cells for injury repair.
03:17Inheritance of Chromatin Structures
Epigenetics is the study of inherited changes in a cell's phenotype without changing the DNA sequences. It provides a form of memory for the differential gene expression pattern to maintain cell lineage, position-effect variegation, dosage compensation, and maintenance of chromatin structures such as telomeres and centromeres. For example, the structure and location of the centromere on chromosomes are epigenetically inherited. Its functionality is not dictated or ensured by the underlying DNA...
01:14Introduction to Nuclear Reprogramming
Nuclear reprogramming is the process of switching gene expression of one cell type to that of another cell type, usually from a differentiated cell state to an undifferentiated cell state. Differentiation occurs during processes such as development and morphogenesis, tissue regeneration, and malignancy. Cells can also be artificially induced to reprogram their gene expression by techniques such as nuclear transfer, induced pluripotency, and cell fusion. Such techniques have many applications in...
02:38Heterochromatin
The extent of chromatin compaction can be studied by staining chromatin using specific DNA binding dyes. Under the microscope, the dense-compacted regions that take up more dye are called heterochromatin. Heterochromatin is further classified into two forms – constitutive heterochromatin and facultative heterochromatin.
Constitutive heterochromatin: It is a highly compact region of chromatin that is mostly concentrated in the centromere and telomere. Unlike euchromatin, the amino acid at 9th...
Constitutive heterochromatin: It is a highly compact region of chromatin that is mostly concentrated in the centromere and telomere. Unlike euchromatin, the amino acid at 9th...