SUMMARY Cell type-specific master transcription factors (TFs) play vital roles in defining cell identity and function. However, the roles ubiquitous factors play in the specification of cell identity remain underappreciated. Here we show that the ubiquitous CCAAT-binding NF-Y complex is required for the maintenance of embryonic stem cell (ESC) identity and is an essential component of the core pluripotency network. Genome-wide studies in ESCs and neurons reveal that not only does NF-Y regulate genes with housekeeping functions through cell type-invariant promoter-proximal binding, but also genes required for cell identity by binding to cell type-specific enhancers with master TFs. Mechanistically, NF-Y’s distinct DNA-binding mode promotes master/pioneer TF binding at enhancers by facilitating a permissive chromatin conformation. Our studies unearth a conceptually unique function for histone-fold domain (HFD) protein NF-Y in promoting chromatin accessibility and suggest that other HFD proteins with analogous structural and DNA-binding properties may function in similar ways.

The reprogramming of X-chromosome inactivation during the acquisition of pluripotency in vivo and in vitro is accompanied by the repression of Xist, the trigger of X-inactivation, and the upregulation of its antisense counterpart Tsix. We have shown that key factors supporting pluripotency-Nanog, Oct4 and Sox2-bind within Xist intron 1 in undifferentiated embryonic stem cells (ESC) to repress Xist transcription. However, the relationship between transcription factors of the pluripotency network and Tsix regulation has remained unclear. Here we show that Tsix upregulation in embryonic stem cells depends on the recruitment of the pluripotent marker Rex1, and of the reprogramming-associated factors Klf4 and c-Myc, by the DXPas34 minisatellite associated with the Tsix promoter. Upon deletion of DXPas34, binding of the three factors is abrogated and the transcriptional machinery is no longer efficiently recruited to the Tsix promoter. Additional analyses including knockdown experiments further demonstrate that Rex1 is critically important for efficient transcription elongation of Tsix. Hence, distinct embryonic-stem-cell-specific complexes couple X-inactivation reprogramming and pluripotency, with Nanog, Oct4 and Sox2 repressing Xist to facilitate the reactivation of the inactive X, and Klf4, c-Myc and Rex1 activating Tsix to remodel Xist chromatin and ensure random X-inactivation upon differentiation. The holistic pattern of Xist/Tsix regulation by pluripotent factors that we have identified suggests a general direct governance of complex epigenetic processes by the machinery dedicated to pluripotency.

Accumulation of the non-coding RNA Xist on one X chromosome in female cells is a hallmark of X-chromosome inactivation in eutherians. Here, we uncovered an essential function for the ubiquitous autosomal transcription factor Yin-Yang 1 (YY1) in the transcriptional activation of Xist in both human and mouse. We show that loss of YY1 prevents Xist up-regulation during the initiation and maintenance of X-inactivation, and that YY1 binds directly the Xist 5′ region to trigger the activity of the Xist promoter. Binding of YY1 to the Xist 5′ region prior to X-chromosome inactivation competes with the Xist repressor REX1 while DNA methylation controls mono-allelic fixation of YY1 to Xist at the onset of X-chromosome inactivation. YY1 is thus the first autosomal activating factor involved in a fundamental and conserved pathway of Xist regulation that ensures the asymmetric transcriptional up-regulation of the master regulator of X-chromosome inactivation.

Highlights d Multi-omic maps of embryonic stem cells transitioning from naive to primed pluripotency d Phosphoproteome dynamics precede changes to epigenome, transcriptome, and proteome d ERK signaling is dispensable beyond the initial phase of exit from naive pluripotency d Comparative analysis of mouse and human naive and primed pluripotent states

The widespread pleiotropic drug resistance (PDR) phenomenon is well described as the long term selection of genetic variants expressing constitutively high levels of membrane transporters involved in drug efflux. However, the transcriptional cascades leading to the PDR phenotype in wild-type cells are largely unknown, and the first steps of this phenomenon are poorly understood. We investigated the transcriptional mechanisms underlying the establishment of an efficient PDR response in budding yeast. We show that within a few minutes of drug sensing yeast elicits an effective PDR response, involving tens of PDR genes. This early PDR response (ePDR) is highly dependent on the Pdr1p transcription factor, which is also one of the major genetic determinants of long term PDR acquisition. The activity of Pdr1p in early drug response is not drug-specific, as two chemically unrelated drugs, benomyl and fluphenazine, elicit identical, Pdr1p-dependent, ePDR patterns. Our data also demonstrate that Pdr1p is an original stress response factor, the DNA binding properties of which do not depend on the presence of drugs. Thus, Pdr1p is a promoter-resident regulator involved in both basal expression and rapid drug-dependent induction of PDR genes.All living organisms have developed complex transcriptional responses for rapidly adapting genome expression to the presence of toxic compounds in the environment. These responses involve various types of cellular pathway. Genome-wide studies of drug responses in microorganisms have revealed that these responses comprise both specific effects depending on the precise chemical nature and cellular targets of the toxic compound and a general stress response (environmental stress response (ESR) 5 in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae), reflecting cell adaptation to growth defects and cellular damages, regardless of the type of stress encountered by the cell (1). Inbetween these very specific and very general responses, prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells have evolved multidrug resistance (MDR) pathways, which confer resistance to a broad spectrum of unrelated chemicals, but which are restricted to the stress responses associated with organic drugs. From bacteria to humans, MDR is essentially based on the overexpression of membrane transporters able to export a large number of chemically different compounds (2-4). MDR is a major concern for human health, as it leads to antibiotic resistance in pathogens and enables cancer cells to survive chemotherapy.In the model yeast S. cerevisiae, MDR is referred to as PDR (pleiotropic drug response). The PDR network currently comprise 10 transcription factors regulating about 70 different target genes reviewed in Ref. 18). In this network, the Pdr1p transcription factor has the largest set of potential targets (about 50). Pdr1p and its functional homologue, Pdr3p, were identified in the early 1990s as regulators of the basal level of drug resistance in yeast cells (19,20). Gain-or loss-of-function alleles of PDR1 and PDR3 confer resistance or sensitivit...

SUMMARY Eukaryotic gene transcription is regulated at many steps, including RNA Polymerase II (RNAPII) recruitment, transcription initiation, promoter-proximal RNAPII pause release, and transcription termination; however, mechanisms regulating transcription during productive elongation remain poorly understood. Enhancers, which activate gene transcription, themselves undergo RNAPII-mediated transcription, but our understanding of enhancer transcription and enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) remain incomplete. Here we show that transcription at intragenic enhancers interferes with and attenuates host gene transcription during productive elongation. While the extent of attenuation correlates positively with nascent eRNA expression, the act of intragenic enhancer-transcription alone, but not eRNAs, explains the attenuation. Through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletions, we demonstrate a physiological role for intragenic enhancer-mediated transcription attenuation in cell-fate determination. We propose that intragenic enhancers not only enhance transcription of one or more genes from a distance but also fine-tune transcription of their host gene through transcription interference, facilitating differential utilization of the same regulatory element for disparate functions.

Alternative splicing relies on the combinatorial recruitment of splicing regulators to specific RNA binding sites. Chromatin has been shown to impact this recruitment. However, a limited number of histone marks have been studied at a global level. In this work, a machine learning approach, applied to extensive epigenomics datasets in human H1 embryonic stem cells and IMR90 foetal fibroblasts, has identified eleven chromatin modifications that differentially mark alternatively spliced exons depending on the level of exon inclusion. These marks act in a combinatorial and position-dependent way, creating characteristic splicing-associated chromatin signatures (SACS). In support of a functional role for SACS in coordinating splicing regulation, changes in the alternative splicing of SACS-marked exons between ten different cell lines correlate with changes in SACS enrichment levels and recruitment of the splicing regulators predicted by RNA motif search analysis. We propose the dynamic nature of chromatin modifications as a mechanism to rapidly fine-tune alternative splicing when necessary.

Pluripotency is highly dynamic and progresses through a continuum of pluripotent stem-cell states. The two states that bookend the pluripotency continuum, naïve and primed, are well characterized, but our understanding of the intermediate states and transitions between them remain incomplete. Here, we dissect the dynamics of pluripotent state transitions underlying pre-to post-implantation epiblast differentiation. Through integrative analysis of the proteome, phosphoproteome, transcriptome, and epigenome of embryonic stem cells transitioning from naïve to primed pluripotency, we show that rapid, acute, and widespread changes to the phosphoproteome precede ordered changes to the epigenome, transcriptome, and proteome. Reconstruction of kinase-substrate networks reveals signaling cascades, dynamics, and crosstalk. Distinct waves of global proteomic changes mark discrete phases of pluripotency, characterized by cell surface markers that track pluripotent state transitions. Our data provide new insights into the multi-layered control of the phased progression of pluripotency and a foundation for modeling mechanisms regulating pluripotent state transitions. HIGHLIGHTS • Multi-ome maps of cells transitioning from naïve to primed pluripotency • Phosphoproteome dynamics precede changes to epigenome, transcriptome, and proteome • Kinase-substrate network reconstruction uncovers signaling dynamics and crosstalk • Proteins and cell surface markers that track pluripotent state transitions • Comparative analysis of mouse and human pluripotent states