A Tripartite Transcription Factor Network Regulates Primordial Germ Cell Specification in Mice

Overview

Journal Nat Cell Biol

Specialty Cell Biology

Date 2013 Jul 16

PMID 23851488

Citations 139

Authors

Erna Magnusdottir

Sabine Dietmann

Kazuhiro Murakami

Ufuk Gunesdogan

Fuchou Tang

Siqin Bao

Evangelia Diamanti

Kaiqin Lao

Berthold Gottgens

M Azim Surani

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Transitions in cell states are controlled by combinatorial actions of transcription factors. BLIMP1, the key regulator of primordial germ cell (PGC) specification, apparently acts together with PRDM14 and AP2γ. To investigate their individual and combinatorial functions, we first sought an in vitro system for transcriptional readouts and chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing analysis. We then integrated this data with information from single-cell transcriptome analysis of normal and mutant PGCs. Here we show that BLIMP1 binds directly to repress somatic and cell proliferation genes. It also directly induces AP2γ, which together with PRDM14 initiates the PGC-specific fate. We determined the occupancy of critical genes by AP2γ-which, when computed altogether with those of BLIMP1 and PRDM14 (both individually and cooperatively), reveals a tripartite mutually interdependent transcriptional network for PGCs. We also demonstrate that, in principle, BLIMP1, AP2γ and PRDM14 are sufficient for PGC specification, and the unprecedented resetting of the epigenome towards a basal state.

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