NANOG initiates epiblast fate through the coordination of pluripotency genes expression

Nicolas Allègre (1) , Sabine Chauveau (1) , Cynthia Dennis (1) , Yoan Renaud (1) , Dimitri Meistermann (2, 3) , Lorena Valverde Estrella (1) , Pierre Pouchin (1) , Michel Cohen-Tannoudji (4) , Laurent David (2) , Claire Chazaud (1)

1 GReD - Génétique, Reproduction et Développement
2 U1064 Inserm - CR2TI - Centre de Recherche en Transplantation et Immunologie - Center for Research in Transplantation and Translational Immunology
3 LS2N - Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique de Nantes
4 EPIC - Epigénomique, Prolifération et Identité Cellulaire - Epigenomics, Proliferation and the Identity of Cells

Abstract The epiblast is the source of all mammalian embryonic tissues and of pluripotent embryonic stem cells. It differentiates alongside the primitive endoderm in a “salt and pepper” pattern from inner cell mass (ICM) progenitors during the preimplantation stages through the activity of NANOG, GATA6 and the FGF pathway. When and how epiblast lineage specification is initiated is still unclear. Here, we show that the coordinated expression of pluripotency markers defines epiblast identity. Conversely, ICM progenitor cells display random cell-to-cell variability in expression of various pluripotency markers, remarkably dissimilar from the epiblast signature and independently from NANOG, GATA6 and FGF activities. Coordination of pluripotency markers expression fails in Nanog and Gata6 double KO ( DKO ) embryos. Collectively, our data suggest that NANOG triggers epiblast specification by ensuring the coordinated expression of pluripotency markers in a subset of cells, implying a stochastic mechanism. These features are likely conserved, as suggested by analysis of human embryos.

Domaines: Biologie du développement

Nicolas Allègre, Sabine Chauveau, Cynthia Dennis, Yoan Renaud, Dimitri Meistermann, et al.. NANOG initiates epiblast fate through the coordination of pluripotency genes expression. Nature Communications, 2022, 13 (1), pp.3550. ⟨10.1038/s41467-022-30858-8⟩. ⟨pasteur-03752264⟩