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Identification of Skeletal Muscle Satellite Cells by Immunofluorescence with Pax7 and Laminin Antibodies
Published on: April 19, 2018
Pioneer factor Pax7 deploys a stable enhancer repertoire for specification of cell fate
Alexandre Mayran1,2, Konstantin Khetchoumian1, Fadi Hariri3
1Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire, Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Abstract:
Pioneer transcription factors establish new cell-fate competence by triggering chromatin remodeling. However, many features of pioneer action, such as their kinetics and stability, remain poorly defined. Here, we show that Pax7, by opening a unique repertoire of enhancers, is necessary and sufficient for specification of one pituitary lineage. Pax7 binds its targeted enhancers rapidly, but chromatin remodeling and gene activation are slower. Enhancers opened by Pax7 show a loss of DNA methylation and acquire stable epigenetic memory, as evidenced by binding of nonpioneer factors after Pax7 withdrawal. This work shows that transient Pax7 expression is sufficient for stable specification of cell identity.
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