Cross-lineage potential of Ascl1 uncovered by comparing diverse reprogramming regulatomes

Direct reprogramming has revolutionized the fields of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. However, the common mechanisms governing how reprogramming cells undergo transcriptome and epigenome remodeling (i.e., regulatome remodeling) have not been investigated. Here, by characterizing early changes in the regulatome of three different types of direct reprogramming, we identify lineage-specific features as well as common regulatory transcription factors. Of particular interest, we discover that the neuronal factor Ascl1 possesses cross-lineage potential; together with Mef2c, it drives efficient cardiac reprogramming toward a mature and induced cardiomyocyte phenotype. Through ChIP-seq and RNA-seq, we find that MEF2C drives the shift in ASCL1 binding away from neuronal genes toward cardiac genes, guiding their co-operative epigenetic and transcription activities. Together, these findings demonstrate the existence of common regulators of different direct reprogramming and argue against the premise that transcription factors possess only lineage-specific capabilities for altering cell fate - the basic premise used to develop direct reprogramming approaches.