POU4F3 pioneer activity enables ATOH1 to drive diverse mechanoreceptor differentiation through a feed-forward epigenetic mechanism.

ABSTRACT: During embryonic development, hierarchical cascades of transcription factors interact with lineage-specific chromatin structures to control the sequential steps in the differentiation of specialized cell types. While examples of transcription factor cascades have been well documented, the mechanisms underlying developmental changes in accessibility of cell type-specific enhancers remain poorly understood. Here, we show that the transcriptional "master regulator" ATOH1-which is necessary for the differentiation of two distinct mechanoreceptor cell types, hair cells in the inner ear and Merkel cells of the epidermis-is unable to access much of its target enhancer network in the progenitor populations of either cell type when it first appears, imposing a block to further differentiation. This

SUBMITTER: Yu HV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8307294 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature