Sex-specific gene expression in preimplantation mouse embryos.
The 3.5-day-old blastocyst-stage mouse embryo consists of two tissues and contains approximately 60 cells. This tiny structure has now been observed to express nearly 600 genes in a sex-specific fashion, including at least one gene (Rhox/Pem) expressed only in females from their paternal X chromosome.
Eakin
Guy S
GS
Developmental Biology Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, NY 10021, USA.
Hadjantonakis
Anna-Katerina
AK
D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D005810:Multigene Family; D012727:Sex Characteristics