Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
Cell Stem Cell. 2013 Jul 3;13(1):48-61. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2013.04.012. Epub 2013 May 16.
Epigenetic mechanisms regulating lineage differentiation of mammary stem cells (MaSCs) remain poorly understood. Pygopus 2 (Pygo2) is a histone methylation reader and a context-dependent Wnt/β-catenin coactivator. Here we provide evidence for Pygo2's function in suppressing luminal/alveolar differentiation of MaSC-enriched basal cells. We show that Pygo2-deficient MaSC/basal cells exhibit partial molecular resemblance to luminal cells, such as elevated Notch signaling and reduced mammary repopulating capability upon transplantation. Inhibition of Notch signaling suppresses basal-level and Pygo2-deficiency-induced luminal/alveolar differentiation of MaSC/basal cells, whereas activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling suppresses luminal/alveolar differentiation and Notch3 expression in a Pygo2-dependent manner. We show that Notch3 is a direct target of Pygo2 and that Pygo2 is required for β-catenin binding and maintenance of a poised/repressed chromatin state at the Notch3 locus in MaSC/basal cells. Together, our data support a model where Pygo2-mediated chromatin regulation connects Wnt signaling and Notch signaling to restrict the luminal/alveolar differentiation competence of MaSC/basal cells.
表观遗传机制调节乳腺干细胞(MaSCs)的谱系分化仍知之甚少。Pygopus 2(Pygo2)是一种组蛋白甲基化阅读器,也是一种依赖于上下文的 Wnt/β-catenin 共激活因子。本文提供了 Pygo2 在抑制富含 MaSC 的基底细胞的腔细胞/肺泡分化中的功能证据。研究表明,Pygo2 缺陷的 MaSC/基底细胞表现出与腔细胞部分分子相似的特征,例如 Notch 信号升高和移植后乳腺再生成能力降低。抑制 Notch 信号可抑制基底水平和 Pygo2 缺陷诱导的 MaSC/基底细胞的腔细胞/肺泡分化,而 Wnt/β-catenin 信号的激活以 Pygo2 依赖的方式抑制腔细胞/肺泡分化和 Notch3 表达。研究表明,Notch3 是 Pygo2 的直接靶标,Pygo2 是 MaSC/基底细胞中 β-catenin 结合和 Notch3 基因座保持启动/抑制染色质状态所必需的。总之,我们的数据支持这样一种模型,即 Pygo2 介导的染色质调节将 Wnt 信号和 Notch 信号连接起来,以限制 MaSC/基底细胞的腔细胞/肺泡分化能力。