Fundamental differences in endoreplication in mammals and Drosophila revealed by analysis of endocycling and endomitotic cells.

ABSTRACT: Throughout the plant and animal kingdoms specific cell types become polyploid, increasing their DNA content to attain a large cell size. In mammals, megakaryocytes (MKs) become polyploid before fragmenting into platelets. The mammalian trophoblast giant cells (TGCs) exploit their size to form a barrier between the maternal and embryonic tissues. The mechanism of polyploidization has been investigated extensively in Drosophila, in which a modified cell cycle--the endocycle, consisting solely of alternating S and gap phases--produces polyploid tissues. During S phase in the Drosophila endocycle, heterochromatin and specific euchromatic regions are underreplicated and reduced in copy number. Here we investigate the properties of polyploidization in murine MKs and TGCs. We induced differentiat

SUBMITTER: Sher N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3677442 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature