title: Nonrandom template segregation: a way to break the symmetry of stem cells.
abstract: Whether DNA segregates in a biased way has been a subject of intense controversy and debate. Although highly provocative in its biological implications, if true, technical problems have limited researchers from drawing firm conclusions from the data. Elabd et al. (2013. J. Cell Biol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201307110/DC1) now show a high frequency of nonrandom template segregation during differentiation of embryonic stem cells using rigorous experimentation and implicate the methyltransferase Dnmt3 as a key regulator of this process.
authors.affiliation: Life Sciences Institute and 2 Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.
authors.forename: Yukiko M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Yamashita
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D020090:Chromosome Segregation; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000090205:DNA Methyltransferase 3A; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000201:enzymology*; D006801:Humans; D000097584:DNA Methyltransferase 3B
chemical_list: D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases; D000090205:DNA Methyltransferase 3A; D000097584:DNA Methyltransferase 3B; C000717967:DNMT3A protein, human