title: Macro histone variants are critical for the differentiation of human pluripotent cells.
abstract: We have previously shown that macro histone variants (macroH2A) are expressed at low levels in stem cells and are up-regulated during differentiation. Here we show that the knockdown of macro histone variants impaired the in vitro and in vivo differentiation of human pluripotent cells, likely through defects in the silencing of pluripotency-related genes. ChIP experiments showed that during differentiation macro histone variants are recruited to the regulatory regions of pluripotency and developmental genes marked with H3K27me3 contributing to the silencing of these genes.
authors.affiliation: Center for Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona, Barcelona 08003, Spain.
authors.forename: María J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Barrero
authors.forename: Borja
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sese
authors.forename: Mercè
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martí
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Izpisua Belmonte
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002460:Cell Line; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D020868:Gene Silencing / Q000502:physiology*; D006657:Histones / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D006657:Histones; C120756:macroH2A histone
keywords: Chromatin; Differentiation; Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cell; Macro Histone Variants; Pluripotency; Stem Cells