Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 6, 2026
08:01
Oct4GiP Reporter Assay to Study Genes that Regulate Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Maintenance and Self-renewal
Published on: May 30, 2012
Polycomb repressive complex 2 is dispensable for maintenance of embryonic stem cell pluripotency
Stormy J Chamberlain1, Della Yee, Terry Magnuson
1Department of Genetics and Carolina Center for Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA.
Stem Cells (Dayton, Ohio)
|April 12, 2008
Summary
Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) is not essential for maintaining embryonic stem cell pluripotency. Eed-deficient cells remain pluripotent, suggesting positive regulation of pluripotency factors is sufficient.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Stem Cell Biology
- Epigenetics
Background:
- Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) plays a crucial role in embryonic development by methylating histone H3 at lysine 27.
- Core PRC2 components (Eed, Ezh2, Suz12) are highly expressed in embryonic stem (ES) cells and are thought to maintain pluripotency by repressing developmental regulators.
- The necessity of PRC2 for sustaining the pluripotent state in ES cells remains to be fully elucidated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the requirement of PRC2 for the maintenance of pluripotency in embryonic stem cells.
- To analyze the functional pluripotency of Eed-null ES cells under varying passage conditions.
Main Methods:
- Gene expression analysis of low- and high-passage Eed-null ES cells.
- Chimera analyses using Eed-null ES cells.
- Assessment of developmental regulator and pluripotency factor expression.
Main Results:
- Eed-null ES cells, despite overexpressing developmental regulators, exhibit functional pluripotency across different passage numbers.
- These pluripotent cells maintain the expression of critical pluripotency factors.
- EED is essential for the stability of EZH2, the catalytic subunit of PRC2.
Conclusions:
- PRC2 is not necessary for the maintenance of the pluripotent state in embryonic stem cells.
- A positive-only model of ES cell maintenance is proposed, where positive regulation of pluripotency factors is sufficient.
- These findings challenge the established role of PRC2 in actively repressing differentiation to maintain pluripotency.
Related Concept Videos
01:14Maintenance of the ES Cell State
The cells of the blastocyst inner cell mass only remain pluripotent for a short time. This state of pluripotency and self-renewal can be maintained in embryonic stem (ES) cell culture by adding specific chemicals or growth factors to ensure the cells can continue dividing and later differentiate into different cell types. In some cases, the cells are grown on a feeder layer of differentiated cells, which provides the growth factors and extracellular matrix components necessary for stem cell...
01:29Somatic to iPS Cell Reprogramming
Reprogramming alters the gene expression in somatic cells, transforming them into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells over several generations. Scientists can reprogram cells by introducing genes for four transcription factors—Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM) by viral or non-viral methods. These factors are also known as Yamanaka factors after Shinya Yamanaka, who first generated iPS cells using mouse skin cells. Yamanaka was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012 for this...
02:33Combinatorial Gene Control
Combinatorial gene control is the synergistic action of several transcriptional factors to regulate the expression of a single gene. The absence of one or more of these factors may lead to a significant difference in the level of gene expression or repression.
The expression of more than 30,000 genes is controlled by approximately 2000-3000 transcription factors. This is possible because a single transcription factor can recognize more than one regulatory sequence. The specificity in gene...
The expression of more than 30,000 genes is controlled by approximately 2000-3000 transcription factors. This is possible because a single transcription factor can recognize more than one regulatory sequence. The specificity in gene...
01:32Chromatin Modification in iPS Cells
Chromatin modification alters gene expression; therefore, scientists can add histone-modifying enzymes, histone variants, and chromatin remodeling complexes to somatic cells to aid reprogramming into pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
Compact chromatin makes reprogramming difficult. Enzymes, such as histone demethylases and acetyltransferases, are often added during reprogramming to loosen the chromatin, making the DNA more accessible to transcription factors. Molecules that inhibit histone...
Compact chromatin makes reprogramming difficult. Enzymes, such as histone demethylases and acetyltransferases, are often added during reprogramming to loosen the chromatin, making the DNA more accessible to transcription factors. Molecules that inhibit histone...
01:13Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that divide and produce different types of cells. Ordinarily, cells that have differentiated into a specific cell type are post-mitotic—that is, they no longer divide. However, scientists have found a way to reprogram these mature cells so that they “de-differentiate” and return to an unspecialized, proliferative state. These cells are also pluripotent like embryonic stem cells—able to produce all cell types—and are therefore called induced pluripotent stem...
01:13Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that divide and produce different types of cells. Ordinarily, cells that have differentiated into a specific cell type are post-mitotic—that is, they no longer divide. However, scientists have found a way to reprogram these mature cells so that they “de-differentiate” and return to an unspecialized, proliferative state. These cells are also pluripotent like embryonic stem cells—able to produce all cell types—and are therefore called induced pluripotent stem...