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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Dec 1.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2011 Aug 29;23(6):716–723. doi: 10.1016/j.ceb.2011.08.002

Figure 4. Epigenetic regulation of stem cell fate.

Figure 4

Members of the polycomb repressive complex (PRC) 2 (Ezh1/2) and PRC1 (Bmi1) and DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) are expressed in basal epithelial progenitor cells and promote the methylation of histones and DNA, preventing the recruitment of transcriptional activators to genes involved in differentiation and senescence (such as the Ink4a/p16 and Ink4b/Arf locus), promoting stem cell self-renewal. The opposite function is performed by demethylases, including the histone demethylase JMJD3, which hence regulates the switch between stem cell self renewal and differentiation/senescence resulting in the loss of proliferative potential of adult stem cells.