Abstract

Polycomb group proteins (PcG) are transcriptional repressors that control cell identity and development. In mammals, five different CBX proteins associate with the core Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1). In mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs), CBX6 and CBX7 are the most highly expressed CBX family members. CBX7 has been recently characterized, but little is known regarding the function of CBX6. Here, we show that CBX6 is essential for ESC identity. Its depletion destabilizes the pluripotency network and triggers differentiation. Mechanistically, we find that CBX6 is physically and functionally associated to both canonical PRC1 (cPRC1) and non-canonical PRC1 (ncPRC1) complexes. Notably, in contrast to CBX7, CBX6 is recruited to chromatin independently of H3K27me3. Taken together, our findings reveal that CBX6 is an essential component of ESC biology that contributes to the structural and functional complexity of the PRC1 complex.

Details

Title
The Polycomb group protein CBX6 is an essential regulator of embryonic stem cell identity
Author
Santanach, Alexandra 1 ; Blanco, Enrique 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Jiang, Hua 2 ; Molloy, Kelly R 3 ; Sansó, Miriam 1 ; LaCava, John 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Morey, Lluis 5 ; Luciano Di Croce 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain 
2  Laboratory of Cellular and Structural Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA 
3  Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry and Gaseous Ion Chemistry, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA 
4  Laboratory of Cellular and Structural Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA; Institute for Systems Genetics and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA 
5  Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Human Genetics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA 
6  Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; ICREA, Pg. Lluis Companys 23, Barcelona, Spain 
Pages
1-11
Publication year
2017
Publication date
Nov 2017
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01464-w
ProQuest document ID
2127646884
Copyright
© 2017. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.