A synthetic DNA-binding inhibitor of SOX2 guided human induced pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into cardiac mesoderm

ABSTRACT: Targeted differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) using only chemicals is proclaimed to have value-added clinical potential in the regeneration of complex cell types like cardiomyocytes. Despite the availability of several small molecule inhibitors capable of modulating specific receptor-ligand interaction or enzymatic activity, no bioactive synthetic DNA-binding inhibitor targeting key cell fate-controlling gene like SOX2 is available yet. Herein, we demonstrate a novel DNA-based chemical approach to guide hiPSCs differentiation using pyrrole-imidazole polyamides (PIPs), which are sequence-selective DNA-binding synthetic molecules. Harnessing the knowledge about key transcriptional changes associated with cardiomyocyte induction, we developed a PIP termed SOX-L targeting 5′-CTTTGTT-3′ sequence and demonstrate the inhibition of SOX2-DNA interaction and mesoderm induction of hiPSCs. Genome-wide gene analyses revealed that SOX-L remarkably specified cardiac mesoderm by triggering targeted alteration in SOX2-associated gene regulatory networks. Also, employment of SOX-L along with a Wnt inhibitor successfully generated spontaneously contracting cardiomyocytes to validate our concept that DNA-binding inhibitors like PIPs could be used for directed differentiation of hiPSCs. Because PIPs could be fine-tuned to target specific DNA sequences, our DNA-based approach could be expanded to directly target and distinctively regulate key transcription factor associated with the desired cell type.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE97621 | GEO | 2017/08/01

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA382453

REPOSITORIES: GEO