The pioneer factor OCT4 requires the chromatin remodeller BRG1 to support gene regulatory element function in mouse embryonic stem cells

  1. Hamish W King
  2. Robert J Klose  Is a corresponding author
  1. University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Abstract

Pioneer transcription factors recognise and bind their target sequences in inaccessible chromatin to establish new transcriptional networks throughout development and cellular reprogramming. During this process, pioneer factors establish an accessible chromatin state to facilitate additional transcription factor binding, yet it remains unclear how different pioneer factors achieve this. 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 to support additional 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 promoting the activity of the pioneer factor OCT4 and regulating the pluripotency network.

Data availability

The following data sets were generated
The following previously published data sets were used
    1. ENCODE DCC
    (2014) A comparative encyclopedia of DNA elements in the mouse genome
    Publicly available at the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (accession no: GSE49847).

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Hamish W King

    Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-5972-8926
  2. Robert J Klose

    Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    For correspondence
    rob.klose@bioch.ox.ac.uk
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-8726-7888

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.

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.

Metrics

  • 10,521
    views
  • 1,592
    downloads
  • 220
    citations

Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.

Download links

A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.

Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)

Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)

Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)

  1. Hamish W King
  2. Robert J Klose
(2017)
The pioneer factor OCT4 requires the chromatin remodeller BRG1 to support gene regulatory element function in mouse embryonic stem cells
eLife 6:e22631.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.22631

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.22631

Further reading

    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
    Kara A Nelson, Kari F Lenhart ... Stephen DiNardo
    Research Article

    Niches are often found in specific positions in tissues relative to the stem cells they support. Consistency of niche position suggests that placement is important for niche function. However, the complexity of most niches has precluded a thorough understanding of how their proper placement is established. To address this, we investigated the formation of a genetically tractable niche, the Drosophila Posterior Signaling Center (PSC), the assembly of which had not been previously explored. This niche controls hematopoietic progenitors of the lymph gland (LG). PSC cells were previously shown to be specified laterally in the embryo, but ultimately reside dorsally, at the LG posterior. Here, using live-imaging, we show that PSC cells migrate as a tight collective and associate with multiple tissues during their trajectory to the LG posterior. We find that Slit emanating from two extrinsic sources, visceral mesoderm and cardioblasts, is required for the PSC to remain a collective, and for its attachment to cardioblasts during migration. Without proper Slit-Robo signaling, PSC cells disperse, form aberrant contacts, and ultimately fail to reach their stereotypical position near progenitors. Our work characterizes a novel example of niche formation and identifies an extrinsic signaling relay that controls precise niche positioning.

    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
    Paolo Petazzi, Telma Ventura ... Antonella Fidanza
    Tools and Resources

    A major challenge in the stem cell biology field is the ability to produce fully functional cells from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that are a valuable resource for cell therapy, drug screening, and disease modelling. Here, we developed a novel inducible CRISPR-mediated activation strategy (iCRISPRa) to drive the expression of multiple endogenous transcription factors (TFs) important for in vitro cell fate and differentiation of iPSCs to haematopoietic progenitor cells. This work has identified a key role for IGFBP2 in developing haematopoietic progenitors. We first identified nine candidate TFs that we predicted to be involved in blood cell emergence during development, then generated tagged gRNAs directed to the transcriptional start site of these TFs that could also be detected during single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq). iCRISPRa activation of these endogenous TFs resulted in a significant expansion of arterial-fated endothelial cells expressing high levels of IGFBP2, and our analysis indicated that IGFBP2 is involved in the remodelling of metabolic activity during in vitro endothelial to haematopoietic transition. As well as providing fundamental new insights into the mechanisms of haematopoietic differentiation, the broader applicability of iCRISPRa provides a valuable tool for studying dynamic processes in development and for recapitulating abnormal phenotypes characterised by ectopic activation of specific endogenous gene expression in a wide range of systems.