Cell division and death play an important role in embryonic development. Cell specialization is accompanied with slow proliferation and quiescence. Cell death is important for morphogenesis. Gene expression changes during differentiation is coordinated by lineage-specific transcription factors and chromatin factors. It is not yet fully understood how alterations in gene expression and cell cycle/death mechanisms are connected. We previously identified a chromatin protein Arid4b as a critical factor for meso/ endoderm differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). |