Role of epigenetics in keeping egg cells fresh

The new research in Molecular biology and Nature structural focuses on the role of Epigenetics in keeping the egg cells fresh by placing them into stasis. A team of Babraham Institute studied an MLL2 (protein) and discovered a method for producing an Epigenetics marks which is further needed for egg cell stasis.

The fertilized egg cell is the first step of human life. Egg cells are created inside of a women body before her birth. Throughout the childhood, the egg cell is kept in stasis until they are needed as an adult. If the egg cell doesn’t go into stasis then the cell cannot become mature and loses the chance of forming a new life. Many epigenetics marks are used to putting an egg into stasis. The epigenetics marks are attached to DNA for indicating which genes are turned ‘on’ or ‘off’. Scientists are working to understand where from these marks are coming and how the mistakes in that are responsible for causing diseases. As the number of an egg cell is very less, so it is particularly challenging to study epigenetics in egg cell. The team is creating highly sensitive methods for detecting the marks in a little number of cells.

By applying this approach the scientists found that a mark (H3K4me3) spreads throughout the genome. They showed that MLL2 (protein) is the factor responsible for this unusual placement of H3K4me3 in egg cells. The lack of MLL2 is the reason behind the H3K4me3 marks in egg cells are lost and die.

As results scientists are only starting to unravel the connection details between egg development and epigenetics, a fundamental aspect of biology that may play an important part in transmitting information from mother to fetus.

See more at: https://epigenetics.geneticconferences.com/