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An Optogenetic Method to Control and Analyze Gene Expression Patterns in Cell-to-cell Interactions
Published on: March 22, 2018
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A unique mechanism regulating gene expression in 1-cell embryos
1Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Chiba 277-8562, Japan.
The Journal of Reproduction and Development
|November 22, 2016
Summary
Early mouse embryos exhibit a unique gene expression pattern at the 1-cell stage. This promiscuous gene expression is hypothesized to result from an extremely loose chromatin structure in zygotes.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Genomics
- Epigenetics
Background:
- The genome of zygotes is transcriptionally silent immediately after fertilization.
- Initiation of transcription is species-specific, occurring at the mid-1-cell stage in mice.
- High-throughput sequencing (HTS) has revealed thousands of genes transcribed at the 1-cell stage with a unique expression pattern.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a hypothesis regarding the cause of promiscuous gene expression in 1-cell embryos.
- To analyze existing HTS data from a previous study.
Main Methods:
- Re-analysis of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) data.
- Investigating gene expression patterns in 1-cell embryos.
Main Results:
- Thousands of genes are transcribed at the 1-cell stage in mice.
- The observed gene expression pattern at the 1-cell stage is unique.
Conclusions:
- An extremely loose chromatin structure is hypothesized to cause promiscuous gene expression in 1-cell embryos.
- Further research is needed to confirm the role of chromatin structure in early embryonic gene regulation.
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