title: A Zygotic Checkpoint for Unrepaired Lesions.
abstract: DNA demethylation, a process involving DNA repair, is critical for reprogramming of the paternal genome during the oocyte-to-zygote transition. A new study by Ladstätter and Tachibana-Konwalski shows that a Chk1-mediated zygotic checkpoint monitors the cohesin-dependent repair of DNA lesions arising from DNA demethylation, which prevents zygotes carrying unrepaired lesions from entering mitosis.
authors.affiliation: MGH Cancer Center and Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA. Electronic address: zou.lee@mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zou
mesh_terms: D059447:Cell Cycle Checkpoints; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004260:DNA Repair; D016678:Genome; D006801:Humans; D015053:Zygote / Q000378:metabolism*