Tcf3 is an integral component of the core regulatory circuitry of embryonic stem cells.
Embryonic stem (ES) cells have a unique regulatory circuitry, largely controlled by the transcription factors Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog, which generates a gene expression program necessary for pluripotency and self-renewal. How external signals connect to this regulatory circuitry to influence ES cell fate is not known. We report here that a terminal component of the canonical Wnt pathway in ES cells, the transcription factor T-cell factor-3 (Tcf3), co-occupies promoters throughout the genome in association with the pluripotency regulators Oct4 and Nanog. Thus, Tcf3 is an integral component of the core regulatory circuitry of ES cells, which includes an autoregulatory loop involving the pluripotency regulators. Both Tcf3 depletion and Wnt pathway activation cause increased expression of Oct4, Nanog, and other pluripotency factors and produce ES cells that are refractory to differentiation. Our results suggest that the Wnt pathway, through Tcf3, brings developmental signals directly to the core regulatory circuitry of ES cells to influence the balance between pluripotency and differentiation.
Cole
Megan F
MF
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.
Johnstone
Sarah E
SE
Newman
Jamie J
JJ
Kagey
Michael H
MH
Young
Richard A
RA
D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D016678:Genome; D024002:HMGB Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D016086:Lentivirus; D051379:Mice; D000071317:Nanog Homeobox Protein; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051820:TCF Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology*; D058125:Transcription Factor 7-Like 1 Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D024002:HMGB Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D000071317:Nanog Homeobox Protein; C475540:Nanog protein, mouse; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors; C527783:Sox2 protein, mouse; D051820:TCF Transcription Factors; C544913:Tcf7l1 protein, mouse; D058125:Transcription Factor 7-Like 1 Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051153:Wnt Proteins