At the base of colinear Hox gene expression: cis-features and trans-factors orchestrating the initial phase of Hox cluster activation

TY - JOUR

T1 - At the base of colinear Hox gene expression

T2 - cis-features and trans-factors orchestrating the initial phase of Hox cluster activation

AU - Neijts, Roel

AU - Deschamps, Jacqueline

N1 - Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PY - 2017/8/15

Y1 - 2017/8/15

N2 - Hox genes are crucial players in the generation and pattering of the vertebrate trunk and posterior body during embryogenesis. Their initial expression takes place shortly after the establishment of the primitive streak, in the posterior-most part of the mouse embryo and is a determinant step for setting up the definitive Hox expression boundaries along the antero-posterior body axis. The developmental signals and epigenetic mechanisms underlying this early activation remained unsolved until recently. The development of novel embryo-derived model systems, combined with methods that examine chromatin status and chromosome conformation, led to deeper understanding of the process of Hox activation in the early embryo. Here we summarize how the early Hox cis-regulatory landscape becomes active upon receiving the appropriate developmental signal, and we discuss the importance of the local topological segmentation of the HoxA cluster during early Hox activation.

AB - Hox genes are crucial players in the generation and pattering of the vertebrate trunk and posterior body during embryogenesis. Their initial expression takes place shortly after the establishment of the primitive streak, in the posterior-most part of the mouse embryo and is a determinant step for setting up the definitive Hox expression boundaries along the antero-posterior body axis. The developmental signals and epigenetic mechanisms underlying this early activation remained unsolved until recently. The development of novel embryo-derived model systems, combined with methods that examine chromatin status and chromosome conformation, led to deeper understanding of the process of Hox activation in the early embryo. Here we summarize how the early Hox cis-regulatory landscape becomes active upon receiving the appropriate developmental signal, and we discuss the importance of the local topological segmentation of the HoxA cluster during early Hox activation.

KW - Animals

KW - Body Patterning

KW - Embryonic Induction

KW - Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental

KW - Genes, Homeobox

KW - Humans

KW - Mice

KW - Models, Genetic

KW - Multigene Family

KW - Transcriptional Activation

KW - Tretinoin

KW - Journal Article

KW - Review

KW - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

U2 - 10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.02.009

DO - 10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.02.009

M3 - Article

C2 - 28728680

SN - 0012-1606

VL - 428

SP - 293

EP - 299

JO - Developmental Biology

JF - Developmental Biology

IS - 2

ER -