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DEVELOPMENTAL EPIGENOMICS

The Polycomb landscape in mouse development

Nature Genetics volume 53, pages 427–429 (2021)Cite this article

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Polycomb-group proteins assemble into two primary complexes—Polycomb repressive complex (PRC) 1 and 2—that safeguard cell fate by repressing gene transcription. Two new studies explore the PRC1 landscape during the transition from gametes to embryos in mice, thus providing insight into the intergenerational transmission of epigenetic information and gene regulation dynamics as embryos prepare for gastrulation.

PRC1 and PRC2 are two evolutionarily conserved complexes that affect cell identity and fate via an epigenetic mode of gene repression. In classical Polycomb-mediated regulation, PRC2 catalyzes the formation of trimethylated histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27me3), a mark recognized by PRC1, which in turn deposits the histone H2A lysine 119 monoubiquitin mark (H2AK119ub1). However, recent data have indicated that in animals the relationship is not quite so straightforward. Variant forms of PRC1 (vPRC1) can act upstream of PRC2 and initiate the canonical pathway in flies and mice1,2,3,4,5. Furthermore, genetic perturbation studies have indicated that PRC2-mutant mice die during gastrulation6, whereas complete PRC1 mutants exhibit an even more severe arrest at the two-cell stage7. Thus, the relationship between the two complexes is not unidirectional. Although genome-wide patterns of H3K27me3 in mouse gametes and embryos have been described8, H2AK119ub1 maps have not been so readily achieved. In this issue, Mei et al.9 and Chen et al.10 have used emerging technology—as well as complementary genetic approaches—to shed light on the interplay between PRC1 and PRC2 during the earliest windows of mammalian development.

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Fig. 1: Polycomb and transcriptional landscapes in normal and modified mouse embryos.

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  1. Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France

    Julien Richard Albert & Maxim V. C. Greenberg

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  1. Julien Richard Albert
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  2. Maxim V. C. Greenberg
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Correspondence to Maxim V. C. Greenberg.

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Richard Albert, J., Greenberg, M.V.C. The Polycomb landscape in mouse development. Nat Genet 53, 427–429 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-021-00833-y

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