Project description:Somatic cells can be reprogrammed to pluripotency using different methods. In comparison to pluripotent cells obtained through somatic nuclear transfer, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) exhibit a higher number of epigenetic errors. Furthermore, most of these abnormalities have been described to be intrinsic to the iPSC technology. Here we investigate whether the aberrant epigenetic patterns detected in iPSCs are specific to transcription factor-mediated reprogramming. We used germline stem cells (GSCs), which are the only adult cell type that can be converted into pluripotent cells (gPSCs) under specific culture conditions, and compared GSC-derived iPSCs and gPSCs at the transcriptomic, epigenetic and functional level. Our results show that both reprogramming methods generate indistinguishable states of pluripotency. GSC-derived iPSCs and gPSCs retained similar levels of donor cell-type memory and exhibited comparable numbers of reprogramming errors. Therefore, our study demonstrates that the epigenetic memory detected in iPSCs is not intrinsic to transcription-factor mediated reprogramming. Total RNA from 12 different in vitro mouse cell lines, 2 technical replicates per sample: germline stem cells (GSCs, 2 independent cell lines), GSC-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs, 4 independent cell lines), germline-derived pluripotent stem cells (gPSCs, 4 independent cell lines), embryonic stem cells (ESCs), fibroblast-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (Fib-iPSCs)
Project description:Somatic cells can be reprogrammed to pluripotency using different methods. In comparison to pluripotent cells obtained through somatic nuclear transfer, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) exhibit a higher number of epigenetic errors. Furthermore, most of these abnormalities have been described to be intrinsic to the iPSC technology. Here we investigate whether the aberrant epigenetic patterns detected in iPSCs are specific to transcription factor-mediated reprogramming. We used germline stem cells (GSCs), which are the only adult cell type that can be converted into pluripotent cells (gPSCs) under specific culture conditions, and compared GSC-derived iPSCs and gPSCs at the transcriptomic, epigenetic and functional level. Our results show that both reprogramming methods generate indistinguishable states of pluripotency. GSC-derived iPSCs and gPSCs retained similar levels of donor cell-type memory and exhibited comparable numbers of reprogramming errors. Therefore, our study demonstrates that the epigenetic memory detected in iPSCs is not intrinsic to transcription factor-mediated reprogramming.
Project description:Somatic cells can be reprogrammed to pluripotency using different methods. In comparison to pluripotent cells obtained through somatic nuclear transfer, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) exhibit a higher number of epigenetic errors. Furthermore, most of these abnormalities have been described to be intrinsic to the iPSC technology. Here we investigate whether the aberrant epigenetic patterns detected in iPSCs are specific to transcription factor-mediated reprogramming. We used germline stem cells (GSCs), which are the only adult cell type that can be converted into pluripotent cells (gPSCs) under specific culture conditions, and compared GSC-derived iPSCs and gPSCs at the transcriptomic, epigenetic and functional level. Our results show that both reprogramming methods generate indistinguishable states of pluripotency. GSC-derived iPSCs and gPSCs retained similar levels of donor cell-type memory and exhibited comparable numbers of reprogramming errors. Therefore, our study demonstrates that the epigenetic memory detected in iPSCs is not intrinsic to transcription-factor mediated reprogramming.
Project description:<p>The efficacy of the adaptive immune response declines dramatically with age, but the cell-intrinsic mechanisms driving the changes characteristic of immune aging in humans remain poorly understood. One hallmark of immune aging is the loss of self-renewing naive cells and the accumulation of differentiated but dysfunctional cells within the CD8 T cell compartment. Using ATAC-seq, we first inferred the transcription factor binding activities that maintain the naive and central and effector memory CD8 T cell states in young adults. Integrating our results with RNA-seq, we determined that BATF, ETS1, Eomes, and Sp1 govern transcription networks associated with specific CD8 T cell subset properties, including activation and proliferative potential. Extending our analysis to aged humans, we found that the differences between memory and naive CD8 T cells were largely preserved across age, but that naive and central memory cells from older individuals exhibited a shift toward a more differentiated pattern of chromatin openness. Additionally, aged naive cells displayed a loss in chromatin openness at gene promoters, a phenomenon that appears to be due largely to a loss in binding by NRF1, leading to a marked drop-off in the ability of the naive cell to initiate transcription of mitochondrial genes. Our findings identify BATF- and NRF1-driven gene regulation as targets for delaying CD8 T cell aging and restoring T cell function.</p>
Project description:The role of the lineage-determining transcription factor, Interferon regulatory factor (IRF8), in microglia remains elucidated. We report the genome-wide methyl-CpG status in adult wild-type (WT) and IRF8-knockout (IRF8KO) microglia by whole-genome bisulfite-Seq (WGBS). Deep-sequencing and subsequent differential analysis revealed that IRF8KO microglia exhibited a cell-intrinsic methylation profile. Furthermore, the differentially methylated regions showed a significant correlation with IRF8-dependent chromatin accessibility in microglia. This study provides a novel insight into understanding epigenetic regulation in microglia.