First Author | Mak W | Year | 2004 |
Journal | Science | Volume | 303 |
Issue | 5658 | Pages | 666-9 |
PubMed ID | 14752160 | Mgi Jnum | J:90454 |
Mgi Id | MGI:3043890 | Doi | 10.1126/science.1092674 |
Citation | Mak W, et al. (2004) Reactivation of the paternal X chromosome in early mouse embryos. Science 303(5658):666-9 |
abstractText | It is generally accepted that paternally imprinted X inactivation occurs exclusively in extraembryonic lineages of mouse embryos, whereas cells of the embryo proper, derived from the inner cell mass (ICM), undergo only random X inactivation. Here we show that imprinted X inactivation, in fact, occurs in all cells of early embryos and that the paternal X is then selectively reactivated in cells allocated to the ICM. This contrasts with more differentiated cell types where X inactivation is highly stable and generally irreversible. Our observations illustrate that an important component of genome plasticity in early development is the capacity to reverse heritable gene silencing decisions. |