Genome Wide Profiling of p53 Response to Differentiation or DNA Damage of Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Tumor suppressor p53 promotes differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), but an in-depth understanding of mechanism is lacking. Here, we define p53 functions in hESCs by genome wide profiling of p53 chromatin interactions and intersection with gene expression during early differentiation and in response to DNA damage. During differentiation, p53 targets and regulates a unique collection of genes, many of which encode transcription factors and developmental regulators with chromatin structure poised by OCT4 and NANOG and marked by repressive H3K27me3 in pluripotent hESCs. In contrast, genes associated with cell migration and motility are bound by p53 specifically after DNA damage. Surveillance functions of p53 in regulation of cell death and cell cycle genes are conserved during both DNA damage and differentiation. Our findings expand the registry of p53 -regulated genes in hESCs and define specific functions of p53 in opposing pluripotency, which are highly distinct from stress-induced p53 response in stem cells.

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Akdemir KC, Jain AK, Allton K, Aronow B, Xu X, Cooney AJ, Li W, Barton MC