Lineage specification in the early mouse embryo

Before the mammalian embryo is ready to implant in the uterine wall, the single cell zygote must divide and differentiate into three distinct tissues; trophectoderm (prospective placenta), primitive endoderm (prospective yolk sac), and pluripotent epiblast cells which will form the embryo proper. In this review I will discuss our current understanding of how positional information, cell polarization, signaling pathways, and transcription factor networks converge to drive and regulate the progressive segregation of the first three cell types in the mouse embryo.