Basics of gene regulation during development and cell differentiation Flashcards
What is the purpose of asymmetric cell division?
To diversify cell functions and differentiate.
What happens in cell proliferation?
The total number of cells increases but the size of the cell does not change.
What are the two stages in embryonic gene transcription?
The first stage is zygotic gene activation and the second stage is mid preimplantation gene activation.
What are the three stages of differentiation?
Activation of gene expression, modifying the chromatin status to stabilize gene expression and removal of existing gene products to clear out the previous cellular program.
What are the two bases behind gene expression?
Genetic based and epigenetic based.
What are the differences between the two types of gene expression?
Genetic based involves sequence determinants whereas epigenetic based involves non-sequence based aspects such as the environment.
What is epigenetics?
A level of gene regulation that is not determined solely by the gene sequence. It is a sudden change in the way the genome is working that doesnt involve genetic mutation/genome changes.
What are some examples of epigenetic factors?
Nucleosome phasing and remodelling, DNA methylation, nucleosome phasing and remodelling.
What are writers in epigenetics?
Things that pit marks on such as transferases, acetylases, enzymes.
What are the erasers in epigenetics?
Things that remove markers.
What are the readers in epigenetics?
Transcription factors - proteins that bind to DNA depending on the markers.
What are some of the combinatorial epigenetic marks?
Active, permissive, repressed, inactive.
What is the inactive state of DNA?
DNA is tightly wound and histones are close together.
What are some active markers?
H3K4me3, H3 and H4 acetylation, DNA hydroxymethylation.
What are some silent markers?
H3K9me3, H3K27me3, DNA methylation.
What is asymmetric proliferation?
Two daughter cells are divided but the two resulting cells are not the same - one resulting cell will continue to differentiate.
What are progenitors?
Committed cells that are will become the differentiated cells.
What does the prescence of active and silent markers on the same nucleosome result in?
The flexibility to divide asymmetrically.
When is epigenetic asymmetry present in the embryo?
The 4 cell stage.
When does polarisation and compaction occur in the embryo?
The 8-cell stage.
What are the two fates of cells in the embryo?
Inner cell mass or trophectoderm.
What does it mean that stem cells have bivalent poised genes?
They contain histone modifications that are associated with gene activation and suppression. The genes are repressed in progenitors and silent in differentiated cells. This gives the ability of cells to divide asymmetrically.
What does epigenetic heterogenity allow?
It biases a cell towards one fate or another.
At what stage do blastomeres retain the capacity to differentiate into ICM or trophectoderm?
The 16 cell stage.
Why do biases in cell fate arise at the 4 cell stage?
Biological noise and early heterogeneities in blastomeres in epigenetic modifications and transcription factor binding to DNA. These differences can be amplified until two lineages are defined.
What marks the first major morphological changes in the embryo?
The onset of polarisation and compaction at the 8 cell stage.
What is significant about the cells before the 8 cell stage?
They are all morphologically similar.
What happens to cells once they have reached the 8 cell stage?
Within 1-3 hours, blasomeres begin to display the first outward signs of radial polarity with the establishment of distinct apical and basolateral domains.