Abstract 139: Role of Histone Lysine Demethylase PHF8 in Epigenetic Regulation of Embryonic Stem Cell Cardiac Differentiation

Abstract

Epigenetic control mechanisms play a key role in the regulation of lineage commitment of stem/progenitor cells, while the epigenetic regulators involved in the determination of cardiomyogenic lineage are incompletely defined. Using in vitro cardiac differentiation system of mESCs with Brachyury and Nkx2.5 selection, we analyzed expression profiles of epigenetic regulators at critical stages of cardiomyogenesis by RT 2 profiler PCR arrays. To identify the potential epigenetic regulators in the cardiac lineage decision, we compared their expression levels in Brachyury + mesodermal cells with Brachyury - cells, and in Nkx2.5 + cardiac progenitor cells with the Nkx2.5 - cells, respectively. To further understand the role of these epigenetic regulators in cardiac lineage commitment, we knockout these genes and investigate their function. For example, deletion of the H3K9me2 demethylase PHF8 in mESCs did not affect self-renewal, proliferation or early ectodermal/endodermal differentiation, but it did promote the mesodermal lineage commitment with the enhanced cardiomyocyte differentiation. The effects were accompanied by a reduction in apoptosis, without significant differences between differentiating wide-type (ph8 +/Y ) and ph8 -/Y ESCs in cell cycle progression or proliferation. Functionally, PHF8 promoted the loss of a repressive mark H3K9me2 from the transcription start site of a proapoptotic gene pmaip1 and activated its transcription. These results reveal the new epigenetic control mechanism in mesodemal and cardiac differentiation and establish a link between the apoptosis and cell lineage decision as well as cardiogenesis.