Department of Developmental Biology and Center of Regenerative Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/@sakhan2019.
Department of Developmental Biology and Center of Regenerative Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2023 Oct;82:102096. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2023.102096. Epub 2023 Aug 17.
Stem-cell-based embryo models generate much excitement as they offer a window into an early phase of human development that has remained largely inaccessible to scientific investigation. An important epigenetic phenomenon during early embryogenesis is the epigenetic silencing of one of the two X chromosomes in female embryos, which ensures an equal output of X-linked gene expression between the sexes. X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) is thought to be established within the first three weeks of human development, although the inactive X-chromosome is reactivated in primordial germ cells (PGCs) that migrate to the embryonic gonads. Here, we summarize our current understanding of X-chromosome dynamics during human development and comment on the potential of recently established stem-cell-based models to reveal the underlying mechanisms.
基于干细胞的胚胎模型引起了极大的关注，因为它们为人类发育的早期阶段提供了一个窗口，而这个阶段在很大程度上无法进行科学研究。早期胚胎发生过程中的一个重要表观遗传现象是雌性胚胎中两条 X 染色体之一的表观遗传沉默，这确保了 X 连锁基因表达在两性之间的平等输出。X 染色体失活（XCI）被认为是在人类发育的头三周内建立的，尽管失活的 X 染色体在迁移到胚胎性腺的原始生殖细胞（PGC）中重新激活。在这里，我们总结了我们目前对人类发育过程中 X 染色体动态的理解，并评论了最近建立的基于干细胞的模型揭示潜在机制的潜力。
