Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 7, 2025
10:28
Repressing Gene Transcription by Redirecting Cellular Machinery with Chemical Epigenetic Modifiers
Published on: September 20, 2018
6.5K
H3K27ac mediated SS18/BAFs relocation regulates JUN induced pluripotent-somatic transition
Runxia Lin1,2,3, Ziwei Zhai1,2,3, Junqi Kuang1,2,4,3
1CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy and Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.
Cell & Bioscience
|June 16, 2022
Summary
Pluripotent-somatic transition (PST) involves rapid chromatin remodeling. The SS18/BAF complex moves from pluripotent to somatic sites, driven by cJUN and H3K27ac, facilitating gene activation during cell fate changes.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Epigenetics
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Pluripotent-somatic transition (PST) is a key event in early mammalian development.
- PST serves as a model for understanding cell fate transitions.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate chromatin accessibility dynamics (CAD) during JUN-induced PST.
- Elucidate the role of the SS18/BAF chromatin remodeling complex in early PST.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a JUN-induced PST model (8 hours).
- Analyzed chromatin accessibility using ChIP-seq.
- Performed knockdown of Brg1, a core BAF complex component.
- Investigated protein interactions using IP-MS.
Main Results:
- JUN induced opening of 34,661 chromatin sites within 4 hours, activating somatic genes (e.g., Anxa1, Fosl1).
- SS18/BAFs rapidly relocated from pluripotent to AP-1 associated loci.
- Brg1 knockdown impaired chromatin opening and delayed PST.
- H3K27ac, deposited by cJUN, guided SS18/BAFs to AP1 loci, promoting chromatin opening and gene activation.
Conclusions:
- Demonstrated rapid transfer of BAF complexes from pluripotent to somatic loci during PST.
- Revealed a mechanistic aspect of cell fate control involving directed chromatin remodeling.
Related Concept Videos
01:32Chromatin Modification in iPS Cells
1.9K
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...
1.9K
01:29Somatic to iPS Cell Reprogramming
2.3K
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...
2.3K
01:24Methods of Nuclear Reprogramming
1.9K
Nuclear reprogramming is a process of transforming one cell type into an unrelated cell type by epigenetic changes that alter the cell’s original gene expression pattern. Such epigenetic changes force cells to express a different set of genes, which play a significant role in inducing transformation into other cell types. Nuclear reprogramming offers applications in reproductive cloning for livestock propagation and regenerative medicine — developing patient-specific cells for...
1.9K
01:14Maintenance of the ES Cell State
2.2K
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...
2.2K
01:13Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
24.4K
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...
24.4K
02:33Combinatorial Gene Control
8.4K
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...
8.4K