Project description:It is well-known that embryonic stem cells (ESC) are much more sensitive to replication-induced stress than differentiated cells but the underpinning mechanisms are largely unknown. H2A.X, a minor variant of H2A, constitutes only 1-10% of the mammalian genome. H2A.X plays a well-known for role in the DNA damage response and maintaining stability in the genome, including the regions frequently experiencing replication stress, such as the fragile sites. Intriguingly, several recent studies have reported that H2A.X function is elevated in ESC; and others reported that H2A.X function is provoked during cellular reprogramming (in induced pluripotent stem cells, iPSC), indicating that increased proliferation during iPS may trigger replication stress and the H2A.X DNA damage response. However, several studies of genomic instability in iPSC led to different conclusions on this important issue. For example, frequent copy number variants (CNV) were reported at the genomic regions sensitive to replication stress, such as the fragile sites. On the other hand, another study reported the lack of genomic instability in mouse iPS clones that are able to generate “all-iPS” animals in tetraploid complementation assays (4N+ iPSC), indicative of a potential link between pluripotency and genome integrity. However, whether if high level genomic instability occurs in the 4N- iPSC iPSC clones at replication stress sensitive regions is unknown. Moreover, due to the lack of mechanistic insights on genome integrity maintenance, how pluripotency and genome integrity are connected remains elusive. Here we show that H2A.X plays unexpected roles in maintaining pluripotency and genome integrity in ESC and iPSC. In ESC, it is specially enriched at genomic regions sensitive to replication stress so that it protects genome integrity thereat. Faithful H2A.X deposition is critical for genome integrity and pluripotency in iPSC. H2A.X depositions in 4N+ iPSC clones faithfully recapitulate the ESC pattern and therefore, prevent genome instability. On the other hand, insufficient H2A.X depositions in 4N- iPSC clones at such regions lead to genome instability and defects in replication stress response and DNA repair, reminiscent of the H2A.X deficient ESC.

Project description:It is well-known that embryonic stem cells (ESC) are much more sensitive to replication-induced stress than differentiated cells but the underpinning mechanisms are largely unknown. H2A.X, a minor variant of H2A, constitutes only 1-10% of the mammalian genome. H2A.X plays a well-known for role in the DNA damage response and maintaining stability in the genome, including the regions frequently experiencing replication stress, such as the fragile sites. Intriguingly, several recent studies have reported that H2A.X function is elevated in ESC; and others reported that H2A.X function is provoked during cellular reprogramming (in induced pluripotent stem cells, iPSC), indicating that increased proliferation during iPS may trigger replication stress and the H2A.X DNA damage response. However, several studies of genomic instability in iPSC led to different conclusions on this important issue. For example, frequent copy number variants (CNV) were reported at the genomic regions sensitive to replication stress, such as the fragile sites. On the other hand, another study reported the lack of genomic instability in mouse iPS clones that are able to generate “all-iPS” animals in tetraploid complementation assays (4N+ iPSC), indicative of a potential link between pluripotency and genome integrity. However, whether if high level genomic instability occurs in the 4N- iPSC iPSC clones at replication stress sensitive regions is unknown. Moreover, due to the lack of mechanistic insights on genome integrity maintenance, how pluripotency and genome integrity are connected remains elusive. Here we show that H2A.X plays unexpected roles in maintaining pluripotency and genome integrity in ESC and iPSC. In ESC, it is specially enriched at genomic regions sensitive to replication stress so that it protects genome integrity thereat. Faithful H2A.X deposition is critical for genome integrity and pluripotency in iPSC. H2A.X depositions in 4N+ iPSC clones faithfully recapitulate the ESC pattern and therefore, prevent genome instability. On the other hand, insufficient H2A.X depositions in 4N- iPSC clones at such regions lead to genome instability and defects in replication stress response and DNA repair, reminiscent of the H2A.X deficient ESC. In this study, male 129sv/C57 ES cell genomic DNA was used as reference control, to identify CNV sites in iPS cell lines. And also detect H2A.X (-/-) ES cell (129/Sv) CNVs, with the H2A.X(f/f) ES cell DNA (129/Sv) as control. DNA samples were compared on NimbleGen Mouse CGH 3x720K Whole-Genome Tiling Array (Build MM9).

Dataset Information

H2A.X native ChIP-Seq in ESC and iPSC: Histone Variant H2A.X Mediated Epigenetic Mechanisms are Critical for Maintaining Genome Stability and Pluripotency in ES and iPS Cells

Publications

Histone variant H2A.X deposition pattern serves as a functional epigenetic mark for distinguishing the developmental potentials of iPSCs.

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