The RNA Helicase DDX6 Controls Cellular Plasticity by Modulating P-Body Homeostasis.

ABSTRACT: Post-transcriptional mechanisms have the potential to influence complex changes in gene expression, yet their role in cell fate transitions remains largely unexplored. Here, we show that suppression of the RNA helicase DDX6 endows human and mouse primed embryonic stem cells (ESCs) with a differentiation-resistant, "hyper-pluripotent" state, which readily reprograms to a naive state resembling the preimplantation embryo. We further demonstrate that DDX6 plays a key role in adult progenitors where it controls the balance between self-renewal and differentiation in a context-dependent manner. Mechanistically, DDX6 mediates the translational suppression of target mRNAs in P-bodies. Upon loss of DDX6 activity, P-bodies dissolve and release mRNAs encoding fate-instructive transcription and chrom

SUBMITTER: Di Stefano B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7247364 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature