Epigenetic regulation of germ cells-remember or forget?

Lijuan Feng; Xin Chen

doi:10.1016/j.gde.2015.04.003

Epigenetic regulation of germ cells-remember or forget?

Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2015 Apr:31:20-7. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2015.04.003. Epub 2015 May 1.

Authors

Lijuan Feng¹, Xin Chen²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States.
² Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States. Electronic address: xchen32@jhu.edu.

Abstract

Unlike somatic cells, germ cells retain the potential to reproduce an entire new organism upon fertilization. In order to accomplish the process of fertilization, germ cells undergo an extreme cellular differentiation process known as gametogenesis in order to produce morphologically and functionally distinct oocyte and sperm. In addition to changes in genetic content changes from diploid to haploid, epigenetic mechanisms that modify chromatin state without altering primary DNA sequences have profound influence on germ cell differentiation and moreover, the transgenerational effect. In this review, we will go over the most recent discoveries on epigenetic regulations in germline differentiation and transgenerational inheritance across different metazoan species.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Cell Differentiation
Epigenesis, Genetic*
Gametogenesis*
Germ Cells / cytology
Germ Cells / metabolism*
Humans
Signal Transduction

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding