VGLL1 Cooperates with TEAD4 to Control Human Trophectoderm Lineage Specification

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2024 Jan 17

PMID 38233381

Authors

Yueli Yang

Wenqi Jia

Zhiwei Luo

Yunpan Li

Hao Liu

Lixin Fu

Jinxiu Li

Yu Jiang

Junjian Lai

Haiwei Li

Babangida Jabir Saeed

Yi Zou

Yuan Lv

Liang Wu

Ting Zhou

Yongli Shan

Chuanyu Liu

Yiwei Lai

Longqi Liu

Andrew P Hutchins

Miguel A Esteban

Md Abdul Mazid

Wenjuan Li

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In contrast to rodents, the mechanisms underlying human trophectoderm and early placenta specification are understudied due to ethical barriers and the scarcity of embryos. Recent reports have shown that human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) can differentiate into trophectoderm (TE)-like cells (TELCs) and trophoblast stem cells (TSCs), offering a valuable in vitro model to study early placenta specification. Here, we demonstrate that the VGLL1 (vestigial-like family member 1), which is highly expressed during human and non-human primate TE specification in vivo but is negligibly expressed in mouse, is a critical regulator of cell fate determination and self-renewal in human TELCs and TSCs derived from naïve PSCs. Mechanistically, VGLL1 partners with the transcription factor TEAD4 (TEA domain transcription factor 4) to regulate chromatin accessibility at target gene loci through histone acetylation and acts in cooperation with GATA3 and TFAP2C. Our work is relevant to understand primate early embryogenesis and how it differs from other mammalian species.

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