The dual roles of geminin during trophoblast proliferation and differentiation

Geminin is a protein involved in both DNA replication and cell fate acquisition. Although it is essential for mammalian preimplantation development, its role remains unclear. In one study, ablation of the geminin gene (Gmnn) in mouse preimplantation embryos resulted in apoptosis, suggesting that geminin prevents DNA re-replication, whereas in another study it resulted in differentiation of blastomeres into trophoblast giant cells (TGCs), suggesting that geminin regulates trophoblast specification and differentiation. Other studies concluded that trophoblast differentiation into TGCs is regulated by fibroblast growth factor-4 (FGF4), and that geminin is required to maintain endocycles. Here we show that ablation of Gmnn in trophoblast stem cells (TSCs) proliferating in the presence of FGF4 closely mimics the events triggered by FGF4 deprivation: arrest of cell proliferation, formation of giant cells, excessive DNA replication in the absence of DNA damage and apoptosis, and changes in gene expression that include loss of Chk1 with up-regulation of p57 and p21. Moreover, FGF4 deprivation of TSCs reduces geminin to a basal level that is required for maintaining endocycles in TGCs. Thus, geminin acts both like a component of the FGF4 signal transduction pathway that governs trophoblast proliferation and differentiation, and geminin is required to maintain endocycles.