Abstract
Chromosome segregation errors occur frequently during female meiosis but also in the first mitoses of mammalian preimplantation development. Such errors can lead to aneuploidy, spontaneous abortions, and birth defects. Some of the mechanisms underlying these errors in meiosis have been deciphered but which mechanisms could cause chromosome missegregation in the first embryonic cleavage divisions is mostly a "mystery". In this article, we describe the starting conditions and challenges of these preimplantation divisions, which might impair faithful chromosome segregation. We also highlight the pending research to provide detailed insight into the mechanisms and regulation of preimplantation mitoses.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Aneuploidy*
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Animals
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Blastocyst / metabolism
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Blastocyst / physiology
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Cell Cycle / genetics
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Cell Cycle / physiology
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Chromosome Segregation / genetics
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Chromosome Segregation / physiology*
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Embryonic Development / genetics
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Embryonic Development / physiology*
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Female
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Meiosis / genetics
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Meiosis / physiology
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Pregnancy
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Zygote / cytology
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Zygote / metabolism
Grants and funding
This work was supported by funds from the European Research Council (ERC Advanced Grant “Corema”, grant agreement 694236) to J.E. and by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (all authors). I.S. is further supported by a Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds Phd fellowship. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.