Fig. 4.

Subcellular compartmentalization of lineage specifiers are key factors for cell fate decisions. a Differences between the nuclear location/accessibility of Sox2 at the 4-cell stage embryo are regulated by CARM1, which regulates the level of histone H3R26 methylation^10,11. This differential behavior of Sox2 leads to differential expression of lineage specifiers such as Sox21, the level of which then directs cell fate as Sox21 is repressor of Cdx2 that directed cell differentiation and is in the positive feedback loop with cell polarization^{7, 11}. The identity of a potential factor present at the 2-cell embryo stage that may regulate heterogeneity in CARM1 activity at the 4-cell stage remains unknown. b Apically localized Cdx2 transcripts at the late 8-cell stage facilitate the asymmetric distribution of Cdx2 transcripts in daughter cells upon the 8–16 cell division, generating a bias in Cdx2 expression⁸⁸, which segregates cell fate which is further enhanced by nuclear localization of YAP^74–76