GSE67025
Epigenetic Memory Is Not Intrinsic To Transcription Factor-Mediated Reprogramming [Bisulfite-Seq]
Somatic cells can be reprogrammed to pluripotency using different methods. In comparison to pluripotent cells obtained through somatic nuclear transfer, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) exhibit a higher number of epigenetic errors. Furthermore, most of these abnormalities have been described to be intrinsic to the iPSC technology. Here we investigate whether the aberrant epigenetic patterns detected in iPSCs are specific to transcription factor-mediated reprogramming. We used germline stem cells (GSCs), which are the only adult cell type that can be converted into pluripotent cells (gPSCs) under specific culture conditions, and compared GSC-derived iPSCs and gPSCs at the transcriptomic, epigenetic and functional level. Our results show that both reprogramming methods generate indistinguishable states of pluripotency. GSC-derived iPSCs and gPSCs retained similar levels of donor cell-type memory and exhibited comparable numbers of reprogramming errors. Therefore, our study demonstrates that the epigenetic memory detected in iPSCs is not intrinsic to transcription factor-mediated reprogramming. Overall design: Total DNA treated for Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (RRBSeq) from 6 different in vitro mouse cell lines: germline stem cells (GSCs), GSC-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs, 2 independent cell lines), germline-derived pluripotent stem cells (gPSCs, 2 independent cell lines), embryonic stem cells (ESCs)