Chromatin remodeling in mammalian embryos

Abstract

The mammalian embryo undergoes a dramatic amount of epigenetic remodeling during the first week of development. In this review, we discuss several epigenetic changes that happen over the course of cleavage development, focusing on covalent marks (e.g., histone methylation and acetylation) and non-covalent remodeling (chromatin remodeling via remodeling complexes; e.g., SWI/SNF-mediated chromatin remodeling). Comparisons are also drawn between remodeling events that occur in embryos from a variety of mammalian species.