Examination of transcriptional networks reveals an important role for TCFAP2C, SMARCA4, and EOMES in trophoblast stem cell maintenance.

Trophoblast stem cells (TS cells), derived from the trophectoderm (TE) of blastocysts, require transcription factors (TFs) and external signals (FGF4, INHBA/NODAL/TGFB1) for self-renewal. While many reports have focused on TF networks that regulate embryonic stem cell (ES cell) self-renewal and pluripotency, little is know about TF networks that regulate self-renewal in TS cells. To further understand transcriptional networks in TS cells, we used chromatin immunoprecipitation with DNA microarray hybridization (ChIP-chip) analysis to investigate targets of the TFs-TCFAP2C, EOMES, ETS2, and GATA3-and a chromatin remodeling factor, SMARCA4. We then evaluated the transcriptional states of target genes using transcriptome analysis and genome-wide analysis of histone H3 acetylation (AcH3). Our results describe previously unknown transcriptional networks in TS cells, including TF occupancy of genes involved in ES cell self-renewal and pluripotency, co-occupancy of TCFAP2C, SMARCA4, and EOMES at a significant number of genes, and transcriptional regulatory circuitry within the five factors. Moreover, RNAi depletion of Tcfap2c, Smarca4, and Eomes transcripts resulted in a loss of normal colony morphology and down-regulation of TS cell-specific genes, suggesting an important role for TCFAP2C, SMARCA4, and EOMES in TS cell self-renewal. Through genome-wide mapping and global expression analysis of five TF target genes, our data provide a comprehensive analysis of transcriptional networks that regulate TS cell self-renewal.