Comparisons between fully and partially reprogrammed iPS cells induced by pMX-Klf4, pMX-Oct4 and pMX-Sox2 retroviruses

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell reprogramming is a gradual epigenetic process that reactivates the pluripotent transcriptional network by erasing and establishing heterochromatin marks. Here, we characterize the physical structure of heterochromatin domains in full and partial mouse iPS cells by correlative Electron Spectroscopic Imaging (ESI). In somatic and partial iPS cells, constitutive heterochromatin marked by H3K9me3 is highly compartmentalized into chromocenter structures of densely packed 10 nm chromatin fibers. In contrast, chromocenter boundaries are poorly defined in pluripotent ES and full iPS cells, and are characterized by unusually dispersed 10 nm heterochromatin fibers in high Nanog-expressing cells, including pluripotent cells of the mouse blastocyst prior to differentiation. This heterochromatin reorganization accompanies retroviral silencing during conversion of partial iPS cells by Mek/Gsk3 2i inhibitor treatment. Thus, constitutive heterochromatin reorganization serves as a novel biomarker with retroviral silencing for identifying iPS cells in the very late stages of reprogramming.

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Fussner E, Djuric U, Strauss M, Hotta A, Perez-Iratxeta C, Lanner F, Dilworth FJ, Ellis J, Bazett-Jones DP