Tim Roloff

TL;DR: A model how de novo DNA methylation and dynamic switches in Polycomb targets restrict pluripotency and define the developmental potential of progenitor cells is suggested.

TL;DR: Two modifications important for Trithorax- and Polycomb-mediated gene regulation have methylation-specific distributions at regulatory regions in human spermatozoa, compatible with a role for Polycomb in repressing somatic determinants across generations, potentially in a variegating manner.

TL;DR: It is shown that expression of PIK3CAH1047R in lineage-committed basal Lgr5-positive and luminal keratin-8-positive cells of the adult mouse mammary gland evokes cell dedifferentiation into a multipotent stem-like state, suggesting this to be a mechanism involved in the formation of heterogeneous, multi-lineage mammary tumours.

TL;DR: The dynamics of the transcriptome and an abundant heterochromatic histone modification, dimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 9 (H3K9me2), during neuronal differentiation of embryonic stem cells are reported, which suggests that cellular differentiation entails local rather than global changes in epigenetic repression and transcriptional activity.

TL;DR: It is shown that Ring1 and Rnf2, components of Polycomb-repressive complex 1 (PRC1), serve redundant transcriptional functions during oogenesis that are essential for proper ZGA, replication and cell cycle progression in early embryos, and development beyond the two-cell stage.