Jump-starting life : balancing transposable element co-option and genome integrity in the developing mammalian embryo

© 2024. The Author(s)..

Remnants of transposable elements (TEs) are widely expressed throughout mammalian embryo development. Originally infesting our genomes as selfish elements and acting as a source of genome instability, several of these elements have been co-opted as part of a complex system of genome regulation. Many TEs have lost transposition ability and their transcriptional potential has been tampered as a result of interactions with the host throughout evolutionary time. It has been proposed that TEs have been ultimately repurposed to function as gene regulatory hubs scattered throughout our genomes. In the early embryo in particular, TEs find a perfect environment of naïve chromatin to escape transcriptional repression by the host. As a consequence, it is thought that hosts found ways to co-opt TE sequences to regulate large-scale changes in chromatin and transcription state of their genomes. In this review, we discuss several examples of TEs expressed during embryo development, their potential for co-option in genome regulation and the evolutionary pressures on TEs and on our genomes.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:25

Enthalten in:

EMBO reports - 25(2024), 4 vom: 01. Apr., Seite 1721-1733

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Oomen, Marlies E [VerfasserIn]
Torres-Padilla, Maria-Elena [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Chromatin
DNA Transposable Elements
Genome Evolution
Genome Regulation
Journal Article
Preimplantation Development
Review
Transposable Elements

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 15.04.2024

Date Revised 25.04.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1038/s44319-024-00118-5

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM370177258