Review
Copyright ©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Med Genet. Nov 27, 2014; 4(4): 77-93
Published online Nov 27, 2014. doi: 10.5496/wjmg.v4.i4.77
Genome variation in the trophoblast cell lifespan: Diploidy, polyteny, depolytenization, genome segregation
Tatiana G Zybina, Eugenia V Zybina
Tatiana G Zybina, Eugenia V Zybina, Laboratory of Cell Pathology, Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 194064 St.-Petersburg, Russian Federation
Author contributions: Zybina TG and Zybina EV contributed equally in design and writing of the manuscript as well as to preparing illustrations for this paper.
Supported by The Program “Molecular and Cell Biology” of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Correspondence to: Tatiana G Zybina, ScD, Laboratory of Cell Pathology, Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tikhoretsky ave., 4, 194064 St.-Petersburg, Russian Federation. zybina@mail.cytspb.rssi.ru
Telephone: +7-812-2970341 Fax: +7-812-2970341
Received: January 16, 2014
Revised: June 24, 2014
Accepted: August 27, 2014
Published online: November 27, 2014
Core Tip

Core tip: In rodent placenta, differentiation of secondary trophoblast giant cells give an example of the irreversible endoreduplication (up to 1024c and higher) that, however, results in formation of low-ploid subcellular compartments uncapable of mitotic proliferation. In the mammalian species with lengthy period of pregnancy, more diverse genome changes may be useful to select a more specific response to stressful factors that may appear occasionally during months of intrauterine development.