Abstract
Pioneer transcription factors recognise and bind their target sequences in inaccessible chromatin to establish new transcriptional networks during development and cellular reprogramming. During this process, pioneer factors establish an accessible chromatin state to facilitate additional transcription factor binding, yet how different pioneer factors achieve this remains unclear. Here, we discover that the pluripotency-associated pioneer factor OCT4 binds chromatin to shape accessibility, transcription factor co-binding, and regulatory element function in mouse embryonic stem cells. Chromatin accessibility at OCT4-bound sites requires the chromatin remodeller BRG1, which is recruited to these sites by OCT4. BRG1 occupancy supports transcription factor binding and expression of the pluripotency-associated transcriptome. Furthermore, the requirement for BRG1 in shaping OCT4 binding reflects how these target sites are used during cellular reprogramming and early mouse development. Together this reveals a distinct requirement for a chromatin remodeller in shaping the activity of the pioneer factor OCT4 and regulating the pluripotency network.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Wellcome (098024/Z/11/Z)
- Robert J Klose
European Research Council (681440)
- Robert J Klose
Exeter College, University of Oxford (Monsanto Senior Research Fellowship)
- Robert J Klose
Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine
- Robert J Klose
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Reviewing Editor
- Irwin Davidson, Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, France
Publication history
- Received: October 26, 2016
- Accepted: March 9, 2017
- Accepted Manuscript published: March 13, 2017 (version 1)
- Accepted Manuscript updated: March 15, 2017 (version 2)
- Version of Record published: April 21, 2017 (version 3)
Copyright
© 2017, King & Klose
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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