Project description:RISC-mediated control of selected chromatin regulators stabilizes ground state pluripotency of mouse embryonic stem cells (miRNA-Seq)
Project description:Pluripotency is established in E4.5 preimplantation epiblast. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) represent the immortalization of pluripotency, however, they only partially resemble the gene expression signature of developmental ground-state. Induced PRAMEL7 expression, a protein highly expressed in the ICM but lowly expressed in ESCs, reprograms developmentally advanced ESC+serum into ground-state pluripotency by inducing a gene expression signature close to developmental ground-state. However, how PRAMEL7 reprograms gene expression remains elusive. Here we show that PRAMEL7 associates with Cullin2 (CUL2) and this interaction is required to establish ground-state gene expression. PRAMEL7 recruits CUL2 to chromatin and targets for proteasomal degradation regulators of repressive chromatin, including NuRD complex. PRAMEL7 antagonizes NuRD-mediated repression of genes implicated in pluripotency by decreasing NuRD stability and promoter association in a CUL2-dependent manner. Our data link proteasome degradation pathways to ground-state gene expression, offering insights to generate in vitro models to reproduce the in vivo ground-state pluripotency.
Project description:Pluripotency is established in E4.5 preimplantation epiblast, the founder populations of the adult embryo. The establishment of in vitro models that closely resemble ground-state pluripotency represents an important opportunity to study early embryo development. Pramel7, a protein highly expressed in the inner cell mass (ICM) but expressed at low levels in embryonic stem cells (ESCs), was implicated in the establishment of ground-state pluripotency. Increasing Pramel7 expression in developmentally advanced ESC+serum causes global DNA hypomethylation and induces a gene expression signature close to developmental ground-state. However, how Pramel7 affects gene expression remains elusive. Here we show that Pramel7 associates and recruits to chromatin Cullin2 (Cul2), a component of Cullin2-RING E3 ubiquitin ligase complex that is implicated in proteasomal degradation of target substrates. Pramel7-Cul2 interaction is required for the establishment of ground-state gene expression signature. We show that Pramel7/Cul2 directly target many components of repressive chromatin, including components of the Nucleosome Remodelling and Deacetylase (NuRD) complex, for degradation. We identified a set of Pramel7-regulated genes that depend on Cul2 and associate with the NuRD component Chd4. The majority of these genes are upregulated in ESCs expressing Pramel7 and linked to pluripotency pathways. Finally, we show that Chd4 binding to these genes is impaired by Pramel7 in a Cul2-dependent manner. Our data link proteasome pathway to the establishment of ground-state gene expression, offering insights that could facilitate the establishment of in vitro models to reproduce the in vivo ground-state pluripotency.
Project description:Understanding mechanisms of epigenetic regulation in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is of fundamental importance for stem cell and developmental biology. Here we identify Spic, a member of the ETS family of transcription factors, as a specific marker of ground state pluripotency. We show that Spic is rapidly induced in ESCs cultured with GSK3-, MEK-inhibitors and LIF (2iL), and in response to MEK/ERK inhibition. ChIP-seq analysis demonstrated that Spic binds to enhancer elements that are associated with pluripotency genes. Interaction proteomics and genomic profiling confirmed that SPIC interacts with NANOG and stabilizes its binding to chromatin in 2iL-ESCs. Additional gain of function and loss of function experiments revealed that Spic controls genes involved in one carbon (1C) metabolism, Bhmt, Bhmt2, and Dmgdh, and the flux of SAM-to-SAH in 2iL-ESCs. By maintaining low levels of SAM, Spic controls the level of H3K4me3 and H3R17me2 histone methylation in ground state ESCs. Our data highlight the role of uncharacterized axillary transcription factors that link cellular metabolism to epigenetic regulation in ground state pluripotency.
Project description:Understanding mechanisms of epigenetic regulation in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is of fundamental importance for stem cell and developmental biology. Here we identify Spic, a member of the ETS family of transcription factors, as a specific marker of ground state pluripotency. We show that Spic is rapidly induced in ESCs cultured with GSK3-, MEK-inhibitors and LIF (2iL), and in response to MEK/ERK inhibition. ChIP-seq analysis demonstrated that Spic binds to enhancer elements that are associated with pluripotency genes. Interaction proteomics and genomic profiling confirmed that SPIC interacts with NANOG and stabilizes its binding to chromatin in 2iL-ESCs. Additional gain of function and loss of function experiments revealed that Spic controls genes involved in one carbon (1C) metabolism, Bhmt, Bhmt2, and Dmgdh, and the flux of SAM-to-SAH in 2iL-ESCs. By maintaining low levels of SAM, Spic controls the level of H3K4me3 and H3R17me2 histone methylation in ground state ESCs. Our data highlight the role of uncharacterized axillary transcription factors that link cellular metabolism to epigenetic regulation in ground state pluripotency.
Project description:The ground state of pluripotency is defined as a minimal unrestricted state as present in the Inner Cell Mass (ICM). Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) grown in a defined serum-free medium with two kinase inhibitors (‘2i’) reflect this state, whereas ESCs grown in the presence of serum (‘serum’) share more similarities with post implantation epiblast cells. Pluripotency results from an intricate interplay between cytoplasmic, nuclear and chromatin-associated proteins. Therefore, quantitative information on the (sub)cellular proteome is essential to gain insight in the molecular mechanisms driving different pluripotent states. Here, we describe a full SILAC workflow and quality controls for proteomic comparison of 2i and serum ESCs. We demonstrate that this workflow is applicable for subcellular proteomics of the cytoplasm, nuclear and chromatin. The obtained quantitative information revealed increased levels of naïve pluripotency factors on the chromatin of 2i ESCs. Further, we demonstrate that these pluripotent states are supported by distinct metabolic programs, which include upregulation of free radical buffering by the glutathione pathway in 2i ESCs. Through induction of intracellular radicals, we show that the altered metabolic environment renders 2i ESCs less sensitive to oxidative stress. Altogether, this work provides novel insights into the proteome landscape underlying ground state pluripotency.