ISSN: 2640-2637
Authors: Prasad Pethe*
Lineage specification is a crucial step during development of multicellular organism that requires differential gene expression. Epigenetic modifiers such as chromatin remodelers, histone modifiers, non-coding RNAs, and DNA methylases enable differential gene expression. Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are one of the important histone modifier which are involved in development as well as disease. PcG proteins assemble into large protein complexes termed Polycomb Repressive Complexes (PRCs), which introduce histone modifications that leads to gene repression. The PcG proteins and the Polycomb repressive complexes have been extensively studied in fruit flies and mice, and these studies show that PcG protein are crucial determinants of lineage specification. However, for obvious ethical reasons, the activity of early lineage specification in early human development has not been fully explored. This review attempts to update the readers about the role of Polycomb Group (PcG) proteins during lineage specification from studies on human pluripotent and human adult stem cells.
Keywords: Polycomb Group Proteins; Development Lineage Specification; Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
