Tracing the Transitions from Pluripotency to Germ Cell Fate with CRISPR Screening
View / Open Files
Authors
Hackett, Jamie
Huang, Yun
Günesdogan, Ufuk
Holm-Gretarsson, Kristjan
Kobayashi, Toshihiro
Publication Date
2018-02-22ISSN
2041-1723
Publisher
Springer Nature
Type
Article
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Hackett, J., Huang, Y., Günesdogan, U., Holm-Gretarsson, K., Kobayashi, T., & Surani, A. (2018). Tracing the Transitions from Pluripotency to Germ Cell Fate with CRISPR Screening. https://doi.org/10.1101/269811
Abstract
Early mammalian development entails transit through naïve pluripotency towards post-implantation epiblast, which subsequently gives rise to primordial germ cells (PGC), the founding germline population. To investigate these cell fate transitions, we developed a compound-reporter to track cellular identity in a model of PGC specification (PGC-like cells;PGCLC), and coupled it with genome-wide CRISPR-screening. We identify key genes both for exit from pluripotency and for acquisition of PGC fate, and characterise a central role for the transcription-regulators Nr5a2 and Zfp296 in germline ontogeny. Abrogation of these genes results in widespread activation (Nr5a2-/-) or inhibition (Zfp296-/-) of WNT-pathway factors in PGCLC. This leads to aberrant upregulation of the somatic programme or failure to activate germline-genes, respectively, and consequently loss of germ cell identity. Our study places Zfp296 and Nr5a2 as key components of an expanded PGC gene regulatory network, and outlines a transferable strategy for identifying critical regulators of complex cell fate decisions.
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/269811
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/279918
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Licence URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/