🟣Zylicz Group

Research Group

Transcriptional, epigenetic, and metabolic changes orchestrate early development. However, how these processes are coordinated for appropriate action remains largely unknown—the first lineage choices made after fertilizing the egg are exciting. The delineation of extraembryonic trophectoderm (TE) and primitive endoderm (PrE) supports the development of the pluripotent epiblast (Epi), which in turn will give rise to the embryo proper. After implantation, cells of the embryonic and extraembryonic lineages embark on a complex and distinct program of transcriptional and chromatin rewiring. This culminates with striking chromatin mark asymmetries between lines, with extraembryonic tissues showing certain similarities to cancer cells (e.g., DNA hypomethylation). How such global epigenetic states emerge remains largely unknown. Similarly, it is unclear what function they might play during early development. This is a fundamental biological question of how widespread chromatin modifications regulate gene expression and to what extent they are simply a read-out of transcriptional or metabolic states of cells. Are chromatin marks important? And if so, in what context?