Mapping the journey from totipotency to lineage specification in the mouse embryo.
Understanding the past is to understand the present. Mammalian life, with all its complexity comes from a humble beginning of a single fertilized egg cell. Achieving this requires an enormous diversification of cellular function, the majority of which is generated through a series of cellular decisions during embryogenesis. The first decisions are made as the embryo prepares for implantation, a process that will require specialization of extra-embryonic lineages while preserving an embryonic one. In this mini-review, we will focus on the mouse as a mammalian model and discuss recent advances in the decision making process of the early embryo.
Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Anatomy Building, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DY, United Kingdom.
Chuen Yan
CY
Leung
Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Anatomy Building, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DY, United Kingdom. Electronic address: mz205@cam.ac.uk.
Magdalena
M
Zernicka-Goetz
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000235:genetics*; D010064:Embryo Implantation / Q000235:genetics; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D039901:Totipotent Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*