Stella modulates transcriptional and endogenous retrovirus programs during maternal-to-zygotic transition
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The maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT) marks the period when the embryonic genome is activated and acquires control of development. Maternally inherited factors play a key role in this critical developmental process, which occurs at the 2-cell stage in mice. We investigated the function of the maternally inherited factor Stella (encoded by Dppa3) using single-cell/embryo approaches. We show that loss of maternal Stella results in widespread transcriptional misregulation and a partial failure of MZT. Strikingly, activation of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) is significantly impaired in Stella maternal/zygotic knockout embryos, which in turn leads to a failure to upregulate chimeric transcripts. Amongst ERVs, MuERV-L activation is particularly affected by the absence of Stella, and direct in vivo knockdown of MuERV-L impacts the developmental potential of the embryo. We propose that Stella is involved in ensuring activation of ERVs, which themselves play a potentially key role during early development, either directly or through influencing embryonic gene expression.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
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Artikelnummer | e22345 |
Tidsskrift | eLife |
Vol/bind | 6 |
ISSN | 2050-084X |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - 21 mar. 2017 |
Bibliografisk note
Publisher Copyright:
© Huang et al.
ID: 391637999