FEBS Letters
Volume 580, Issue 28 , Pages 6521-6526, 11 December 2006

The constant variation: DNA methylation changes during preimplantation development

Edited by Laszlo Nagy

  • Tamás Arányi

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Enzymology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Karolina ut 29, 1113 Budapest, Hungary
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Fax: +36 1 4665465.
    • ,
  • András Páldi

      Affiliations

    • Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Sorbonne, Paris, France
    • Genethon; 1bis rue de l’Internationale, Evry, France

Received 4 September 2006; received in revised form 30 October 2006; accepted 8 November 2006. published online 16 November 2006.

Abstract 

Studies on the DNA methylation changes in the mouse preimplantation embryo suggested a simple and attractive model explaining the process believed to be general in mammals. However, recent reports revealed marked differences between different species that abrogates the universal validity of the model. In order to find an explanation to the differences, we have analyzed the published mouse data and compared them to the observations available in other species. The emerging common theme is the high variability of the methylation at all scales of observation and all levels of organization. This variability is the likely consequence of a dynamic and active redistribution process of the cytosine methylation in the genome.

Keywords: Stochastic variation, Epigenetic, DNA methylation, Early embryo, Preimplantation development, Bisulfite treatment

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PII: S0014-5793(06)01337-8

doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2006.11.018

FEBS Letters
Volume 580, Issue 28 , Pages 6521-6526, 11 December 2006

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