Stage-specific functions of TET proteins in somatic cell reprogramming to naive pluripotency.

Changes in DNA methylation are critical components of epigenetic events occurring during early embryonic development and during the reverse process of reprogramming to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). TET proteins erase 5-methylcytosine, the major epigenetic mark in mammalian DNA. Dynamic regulation of TETs takes place when pluripotent cells transition between the 'naïve' ground and the differentiation-prone 'primed' states of pluripotency, and when somatic cells are reprogrammed to iPSCs. The TET proteins play critical roles during cellular reprogramming, yet represent an underexplored layer of regulatory complexity. In this project, we will dissect in detail the hierarchical relations of TETs with pluripotency and epigenetic regulators during the sequential stages of reprogramming, to provide a road map to attain highest-quality human iPSCs for bro ad biomedical applications.

Keywords:5-hydroxymethylcytosine, epigenetics, DNA methylation, naive pluripotency

Disciplines:Genetics, Gynaecology and obstetrics, Molecular and cell biology, Morphological sciences