ArticleCell stem cell2022
Human embryonic genome activation initiates at the one-cell stage.
Article in Cell stem cell, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 89 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
89 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 128 citations in OpenAlex.
- The impact of post thaw embryo culture (extended culture) on frozen embryo transfer outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2026Pooled it
- ZC3H14 phosphorylation is required for nuclear speckle assembly during zygotic splicing activation in mice.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- Emerging roles of mJournal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2026Review
- Proteomics-based insights into mammalian oocyte and early embryo development.Nature cell biology · 2026Review
- When Fertilization Is Not Enough: Maternal-Zygotic Transition as a Determinant of Embryo Competence in IVF.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- NELFA supports naïve pluripotency and drives 8C-like state in human embryonic stem cells.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Species-specific roles of SP1 in bovine and human embryonic genome activation and early embryonic development.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Human YTHDC2 mutations disturb RNA homeostasis of oocytes and early embryos.Human genetics · 2026Article
- Article
- Exploring the increasing aneuploidy stress effects on embryo morphokinetic development: non-linear and stage-specific disruption in developmental timing.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2026Article
- Clocks and Dominoes: Timing Mechanisms of Embryogenesis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- MOL classification: a novel meiotic spindle scoring system for predicting human embryo development and ploidy.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2026Article
- Single-Cell and Single-Embryo RNA Sequencing.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Decoding m6A: a new frontier in maternal-foetal immunology.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Sperm TLR2/1 activation modulates the paternal RNA cargo and enhances bovine embryonic development.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Epigenetic mechanisms in maternal-fetal crosstalk: inter- and trans-generational inheritance.Epigenomics · 2025Review
- Mutational disruption of transcription factors binding and regulatory networks in a case of unexplained total fertilization failure.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Article
- OTX2 awakens the genome of human embryos.Nature genetics · 2025Article
- Maternal factor OTX2 regulates human embryonic genome activation and early development.Nature genetics · 2025Article
- Epigenome dynamics in early mammalian embryogenesis.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2025Review
29 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
In human embryos, the initiation of transcription (embryonic genome activation [EGA]) occurs by the eight-cell stage, but its exact timing and profile are unclear. To address this, we profiled gene expression at depth in human metaphase II oocytes and bipronuclear (2PN) one-cell embryos. High-resolution single-cell RNA sequencing revealed previously inaccessible oocyte-to-embryo gene expression changes. This confirmed transcript depletion following fertilization (maternal RNA degradation) but also uncovered low-magnitude upregulation of hundreds of spliced transcripts. Gene expression analysis predicted embryonic processes including cell-cycle progression and chromosome maintenance as well as transcriptional activators that included cancer-associated gene regulators. Transcription was disrupted in abnormal monopronuclear (1PN) and tripronuclear (3PN) one-cell embryos. These findings indicate that human embryonic transcription initiates at the one-cell stage, sooner than previously thought. The pattern of gene upregulation promises to illuminate processes involved at the onset of human development, with implications for epigenetic inheritance, stem-cell-derived embryos, and cancer.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.