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Published on: April 29, 2011
Nucleolus and rRNA Gene Chromatin in Early Embryo Development
Jelena Kresoja-Rakic1, Raffaella Santoro1
1Department of Molecular Mechanisms of Disease, DMMD, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
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The nucleolus is the largest substructure in the nucleus and forms around the nucleolar organizer regions (NORs), which comprise hundreds of rRNA genes. Recent evidence highlights further functions of the nucleolus that go beyond ribosome biogenesis. Data indicate that the nucleolus acts as a compartment for the location and regulation of repressive genomic domains and, together with the nuclear lamina, represents the hub for the organization of the inactive heterochromatin. In this review, we discuss recent findings that have revealed how nucleolar structure and rRNA gene chromatin states are regulated during early mammalian development and their contribution to the higher-order spatial organization of the genome.
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