How Embryos Shape Their Limbs: A Key Discovery of Genetic Brakes
Original: Embryos shape their limbs: a key discovery of "genetic brakes"
Mouse research finds PRC1 and PRC2 help switch off early limb-development genes at the right time.
A Université de Montréal and IRCM team reports in PNAS that Polycomb complexes PRC1 and PRC2 act as genetic brakes during mouse limb development. These systems silence early developmental genes so later programs can proceed. Disrupting one system alters gene expression; disrupting both keeps early genes active and severely compromises normal limb formation.
This research news from the Université de Montréal focuses on explaining that, during the formation of embryonic limbs, cells must not only "turn on" genes at the right time but also precisely "turn off" certain early genes in subsequent stages. The research was led by the team of Marie Kmita, a professor of medicine at the Université de Montréal and a researcher at the IRCM, with the findings published in PNAS; the study subject was limb development in mouse embryos.
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