Histone Code Modifications on Pluripotential Nuclei of Reprogrammed Somatic Cells (original) (raw)
Related papers
DNA methylation and cellular reprogramming
Trends in Cell Biology, 2010
The recent discovery that a small number of defined factors are sufficient to reprogram somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells has significantly expanded our knowledge of the plasticity of the epigenome. In this review, we discuss some aspects of cell fate plasticity and epigenetic alterations, with emphasis on DNA methylation during cellular reprogramming. Recent data suggests that DNA methylation is a major barrier to induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell reprogramming. The demethylating agent 5-Azacytidine can enhance the efficiency of iPS cells generation and the putative DNA demethylase protein AID can erase DNA methylation at pluripotency gene promoters allowing cellular reprogramming. Understanding the epigenetic changes during cellular reprogramming will enhance our understanding of stem cell biology and lead to potential therapeutic approaches.
Nature Cell Biology, 2013
Reprogramming of somatic cells into iPSCs involves a dramatic reorganization of chromatin. To identify posttranslational histone modifications that change in global abundance during this process, we have applied a quantitative mass-spectrometry-based approach. We found that iPSCs, compared to both the starting fibroblasts and a late reprogramming intermediate (pre-iPSCs), are enriched for histone modifications associated with active chromatin, and depleted for marks of transcriptional elongation and a subset of repressive modifications including H3K9me2/me3. Dissecting the contribution of H3K9methylation to reprogramming, we show that the H3K9methyltransferases Ehmt1, Ehmt2, and Setdb1 regulate global H3K9me2/me3 levels and that their depletion increases iPSC formation from both fibroblasts and pre-iPSCs. Similarly, inhibition of heterochromatin-protein-1γ (Cbx3), a protein known to recognize H3K9methylation, enhances reprogramming. Genome-wide location analysis revealed that Cbx3 predominantly binds active genes in both pre-iPSCs and pluripotent cells but with a strikingly different distribution: in pre-Users may view, print, copy, download and text and data-mine the content in such documents, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full Conditions of use:
Global epigenetic changes during somatic cell reprogramming to iPS cells
Journal of molecular cell biology, 2011
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) exhibit unique chromatin features, including a permissive transcriptional program and an open, decondensed chromatin state. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are very similar to ESCs, hold great promise for therapy and basic research. However, the mechanisms by which reprogramming occurs and the chromatin organization that underlies the reprogramming process are largely unknown. Here we characterize and compare the epigenetic landscapes of partially and fully reprogrammed iPSCs to mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and ESCs, which serves as a standard for pluripotency. Using immunofluorescence and biochemical fractionations, we analyzed the levels and distribution of a battery of histone modifications (H3ac, H4ac, H4K5ac, H3K9ac, H3K27ac, H3K4me3, H3K36me2, H3K9me3, H3K27me3, and γH2AX), as well as HP1α and lamin A. We find that fully reprogrammed iPSCs are epigenetically identical to ESCs, and that partially reprogrammed iPSCs are closer to M...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2001
Mouse embryos undergo genome-wide methylation reprogramming by demethylation in early preimplantation development, followed by remethylation thereafter. Here we show that genomewide reprogramming is conserved in several mammalian species and ask whether it also occurs in embryos cloned with the use of highly methylated somatic donor nuclei. Normal bovine, rat, and pig zygotes showed a demethylated paternal genome, suggesting active demethylation. In bovine embryos methylation was further reduced during cleavage up to the eight-cell stage, and this reduction in methylation was followed by de novo methylation by the 16-cell stage. In cloned one-cell embryos there was a reduction in methylation consistent with active demethylation, but no further demethylation occurred subsequently. Instead, de novo methylation and nuclear reorganization of methylation patterns resembling those of differentiated cells occurred precociously in many cloned embryos. Cloned, but not normal, morulae had highly methylated nuclei in all blastomeres that resembled those of the fibroblast donor cells. Our study shows that epigenetic reprogramming occurs aberrantly in most cloned embryos; incomplete reprogramming may contribute to the low efficiency of cloning.
De novo DNA methylation promoted by G9a prevents reprogramming of embryonically silenced genes
2008
The pluripotency determining gene, Oct-3/4 (also called Pou5f1) undergoes post implantation silencing in a process mediated by the histone methyltransferase (HMT) G9a. Microarray analysis now shows that this enzyme may operate as a master regulator that inactivates multiple early embryonic genes by bringing about methylated-histone H3K9 heterochromatinization and de novo DNA methylation. Genetic studies in differentiating ES cells demonstrate that a point mutation in the G9a SET domain prevents heterochromatinization, but still allows de novo methylation, while biochemical and functional studies indicate that G9a itself is capable of bringing about de novo methylation through its ankyrin (ANK) domain, by recruiting Dnmt3a/3b independently of its HMT activity. These modifications appear to be programmed for carrying out two separate biological functions, with histone methylation blocking target-gene reactivation in the absence of transcriptional repressors, while DNA methylation prevents reprogramming to the undifferentiated state.
An epigenomic roadmap to induced pluripotency reveals DNA methylation as a reprogramming modulator
Nature Communications, 2014
Reprogramming of somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells involves a dynamic rearrangement of the epigenetic landscape. To characterize this epigenomic roadmap, we have performed MethylC-seq, ChIP-seq (H3K4/K27/K36me3) and RNA-Seq on samples taken at several time points during murine secondary reprogramming as part of Project Grandiose. We find that DNA methylation gain during reprogramming occurs gradually, while loss is achieved only at the ESC-like state. Binding sites of activated factors exhibit focal demethylation during reprogramming, while ESC-like pluripotent cells are distinguished by extension of demethylation to the wider neighbourhood. We observed that genes with CpG-rich promoters demonstrate stable low methylation and strong engagement of histone marks, whereas genes with CpG-poor promoters are safeguarded by methylation. Such DNA methylation-driven control is the key to the regulation of ESC-pluripotency genes, including Dppa4, Dppa5a and Esrrb. These results reveal the crucial role that DNA methylation plays as an epigenetic switch driving somatic cells to pluripotency.
Chromatin-modifying enzymes as modulators of reprogramming
Nature, 2012
Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by somatic cell reprogramming involves global epigenetic remodelling. Whereas several proteins are known to regulate chromatin marks associated with the distinct epigenetic states of cells before and after reprogramming, the role of specific chromatin-modifying enzymes in reprogramming remains to be determined. To address how chromatin-modifying proteins influence reprogramming, we used short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) to target genes in DNA and histone methylation pathways, and identified positive and negative modulators of iPSC generation. Whereas inhibition of the core components of the polycomb repressive complex 1 and 2, including the histone 3 lysine 27 methyltransferase EZH2, reduced reprogramming efficiency, suppression of SUV39H1, YY1 and DOT1L enhanced reprogramming. Specifically, inhibition of the H3K79 histone methyltransferase DOT1L by shRNA or a small molecule accelerated reprogramming, significantly increased the yield of iPSC colonies, and substituted for KLF4 and c-Myc (also known as MYC). Inhibition of DOT1L early in the reprogramming process is associated with a marked increase in two alternative factors, NANOG and LIN28, which play essential functional roles in the enhancement of reprogramming. Genome-wide analysis of H3K79me2 distribution revealed that fibroblast-specific genes associated with the epithelial to mesenchymal transition lose H3K79me2 in the initial phases of reprogramming. DOT1L inhibition facilitates the loss of this mark from genes that are fated to be repressed in the pluripotent state. These findings implicate specific chromatin-modifying enzymes as barriers to or facilitators of reprogramming, and demonstrate how modulation of chromatin-modifying enzymes can be exploited to more efficiently generate iPSCs with fewer exogenous transcription factors.