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Updated: Jan 23, 2026

Epigenetic Regulation of Cardiac Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells and Tissues
Published on: June 3, 2016
Histone demethylase Kdm2a regulates germ cell genes and endogenous retroviruses in embryonic stem cells
Enze Fu1, Jian Shen1, Zhiqiang Dong1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, College of Pharmacy, Nankai University, Haihe Education Park, 38 Tongyan Road, Tianjin 300350, PR China.
Abstract:
Aim: To investigate the function of Kdm2a in embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Materials & methods: Expression profile analysis after Kdm2a knockout. Analysis of Kdm2a, H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 ChIP-seq data in ESCs. qPCR analysis and ChIP-qPCR analysis of epigenetic changes after Kdm2a loss. Results:Kdm2a was dispensable for pluripotency maintenance in ESCs. Kdm2a genomic binding profile was positively correlated with that of H3K4me3, Zfx and Tet1. Kdm2a directly regulated germ cell genes in primordial germ cell-like cells. Kdm2a loss led to the reduced expression of endogenous retrovirus IAPEy and resulted in the gain of H3K36me2 and loss of H3K4me3 on IAPEy. Conclusion: Kdm2a regulates germ cell genes and endogenous retroviruses in ESCs possibly through demethylating H3K36me2 and influencing H3K4me3 deposition.
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