title: Epigenetics of haematopoietic cell development.
abstract: Cells of the immune system are generated through a developmental cascade that begins in haematopoietic stem cells. During this process, gene expression patterns are programmed in a series of stages that bring about the restriction of cell potential, ultimately leading to the formation of specialized innate immune cells and mature lymphocytes that express antigen receptors. These events involve the regulation of both gene expression and DNA recombination, mainly through the control of chromatin accessibility. In this Review, we describe the epigenetic changes that mediate this complex differentiation process and try to understand the logic of the programming mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, Hebrew University Medical School, P.O.B. 12272, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel, 91120.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cedar
authors.forename: Yehudit
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bergman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008745:Methylation; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D050441:VDJ Exons / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D006657:Histones