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Blastomere Explants to Test for Cell Fate Commitment During Embryonic Development
Published on: January 26, 2013
Epigenetic regulation of male fate commitment from an initially bipotential system
S Alexandra Garcia-Moreno1, Michael P Plebanek2, Blanche Capel3
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Abstract:
A fundamental goal in biology is to understand how distinct cell types containing the same genetic information arise from a single stem cell throughout development. Sex determination is a key developmental process that requires a unidirectional commitment of an initially bipotential gonad towards either the male or female fate. This makes sex determination a unique model to study cell fate commitment and differentiation in vivo. We have focused this review on the accumulating evidence that epigenetic mechanisms contribute to the bipotential state of the fetal gonad and to the regulation of chromatin accessibility during and immediately downstream of the primary sex-determining switch that establishes the male fate.
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