Journal
GENES & DEVELOPMENT
Volume 27, Issue 12, Pages 1318-1338Publisher
COLD SPRING HARBOR LAB PRESS, PUBLICATIONS DEPT
DOI: 10.1101/gad.219626.113
Keywords
Polycomb; Trithorax; bivalent domains; chromatin; embryonic stem cells
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Funding
- Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina [LPDS 2009-5]
- Empire State Training Program in Stem Cell Research (NYSTEM) [C026880]
- The New York Stem Cell Foundation
- National Institute of Health [GM064844, R37GM037120]
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
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Histone modifications and chromatin-associated protein complexes are crucially involved in the control of gene expression, supervising cell fate decisions and differentiation. Many promoters in embryonic stem (ES) cells harbor a distinctive histone modification signature that combines the activating histone H3 Lys 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) mark and the repressive H3K27me3 mark. These bivalent domains are considered to poise expression of developmental genes, allowing timely activation while maintaining repression in the absence of differentiation signals. Recent advances shed light on the establishment and function of bivalent domains; however, their role in development remains controversial, not least because suitable genetic models to probe their function in developing organisms are missing. Here, we explore avenues to and from bivalency and propose that bivalent domains and associated chromatin-modifying complexes safeguard proper and robust differentiation.
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