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Besides its other important functions, metabolism in general, and mitochondrial pathways in particular, directly drive developmental processes. We have studied this phenomenon in Drosophila, (which we will not have time to present in this presentation), but also, from our detailed developmental and metabolomc analysis of the very first steps of preimplantation development of the mammalian embryo . Increasingly, other groups have determined that similar strategies strategies operate in stem and cancer cell development, which demonstrate that entire metabolic pathways, and not just a few isolated or mis-expressed metabolites can be implicated in a similar manner. We conclude that metabolism is not merely a bystander that allows for the survival of the cell, but is also an active driver of the developmental process.
The developing early embryo is under varying levels of reductive and mitochondrial stress during its brief but critical phase of its life span, until its implantation and access to nutrients through the maternal blood stream. Until that stage though, most processes essential for its development are under strict metabolic control. This includes nutrient choice, epigenetic changes, zygotic genome activation, plasticity in development, localization of metabolic enzymes and stress management. We will touch upon the mechanisms that the embryo employs in achieving some of these unique developmental functions.
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