biostudies-literatureUnknown18(2)Li HMultiple chromatin modifiers associated with H3K9me3 play important roles in the transition from embryonic stem cells to 2-cell (2C)-like cells. However, it remains elusive how H3K9me3 is remodeled and its association with totipotency. Here, we integrated transcriptome and H3K9me3 profiles to conduct a detailed comparison of 2C embryos and 2C-like cells. Globally, H3K9me3 is highly preserved and H3K9me3 dynamics within the gene locus is not associated with gene expression change during 2C-like transition. Promoter-deposited H3K9me3 plays non-repressive roles in the activation of genes during 2C-like transition. In contrast, transposable elements, residing in the nearby regions of up-regulated genes, undergo extensive elimination of H3K9me3 and are tended to be induced in 2C-like transitionStem cell reports449-462https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9968986biostudies-literatureRemodeling of H3K9me3 during the pluripotent to totipotent-like state transition.PMC9968986Li HShen LWu LDong YLiang YZuo YXiao YAbudureheman ALin ZWang HLe RLi YHuang YZhang YSu ZZhang CXi CSun JKong XGao SYin JfalseRemodeling of H3K9me3 during the pluripotent to totipotent-like state transition.Multiple chromatin modifiers associated with H3K9me3 play important roles in the transition from embryonic stem cells to 2-cell (2C)-like cells. However, it remains elusive how H3K9me3 is remodeled and its association with totipotency. Here, we integrated transcriptome and H3K9me3 profiles to conduct a detailed comparison of 2C embryos and 2C-like cells. Globally, H3K9me3 is highly preserved and H3K9me3 dynamics within the gene locus is not associated with gene expression change during 2C-like transition. Promoter-deposited H3K9me3 plays non-repressive roles in the activation of genes during 2C-like transition. In contrast, transposable elements, residing in the nearby regions of up-regulated genes, undergo extensive elimination of H3K9me3 and are tended to be induced in 2C-like transition2023-01-01T00:00:00Z2023 Feb2025-04-26T10:20:20.171Z2025-04-06T13:17:41.799ZS-EPMC99689863663878710.1016/j.stemcr.2022.12.006