Epigenetic genome modifications are thought to be important for specifying the lineage and developmental stage of cells within a multicellular organism. Here, we show that the epigenetic profile of pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ES) is distinct from that of embryonic carcinoma cells, haematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and their differentiated progeny. Silent, lineage-specific genes replicated earlier in pluripotent cells than in tissue-specific stem cells or differentiated cells and had unexpectedly high levels of acetylated H3K9 and methylated H3K4. Unusually, in ES cells these markers of open chromatin were also combined with H3K27 trimethylation at some non-expressed genes. Thus, pluripotency of ES cells is characterized by a specific epigenetic profile where lineage-specific genes may be accessible but, if so, carry repressive H3K27 trimethylation modifications. H3K27 methylation is functionally important for preventing expression of these genes in ES cells as premature expression occurs in embryonic ectoderm development (Eed)-deficient ES cells. Our data suggest that lineage-specific genes are primed for expression in ES cells but are held in check by opposing chromatin modifications.

Mesenchymal cell populations contribute to microenvironments regulating stem cells and the growth of malignant cells. Osteolineage cells participate in the hematopoietic stem cell niche. Here, we report that deletion of the miRNA processing endonuclease Dicer1 selectively in mesenchymal osteoprogenitors induces markedly disordered hematopoiesis. Hematopoietic changes affected multiple lineages recapitulating key features of human myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) including the development of acute myelogenous leukemia. These changes were microenvironment dependent and induced by specific cells in the osteolineage. Dicer1−/− osteoprogenitors expressed reduced levels of Sbds, the gene mutated in the human bone marrow failure and leukemia predisposition Shwachman-Bodian-Diamond Syndrome. Deletion of Sbds in osteoprogenitors largely phenocopied Dicer1 deletion. These data demonstrate that differentiation stage-specific perturbations in osteolineage cells can induce complex hematological disorders and indicate the central role individual cellular elements of ‘estroma’ can play in tissue homeostasis. They reveal that primary changes in the hematopoietic microenvironment can initiate secondary neoplastic disease.

Cohesins mediate sister chromatid cohesion, which is essential for chromosome segregation and postreplicative DNA repair. In addition, cohesins appear to regulate gene expression and enhancer-promoter interactions. These noncanonical functions remained unexplained because knowledge of cohesin-binding sites and functional interactors in metazoans was lacking. We show that the distribution of cohesins on mammalian chromosome arms is not driven by transcriptional activity, in contrast to S. cerevisiae. Instead, mammalian cohesins occupy a subset of DNase I hypersensitive sites, many of which contain sequence motifs resembling the consensus for CTCF, a DNA-binding protein with enhancer blocking function and boundary-element activity. We find cohesins at most CTCF sites and show that CTCF is required for cohesin localization to these sites. Recruitment by CTCF suggests a rationale for noncanonical cohesin functions and, because CTCF binding is sensitive to DNA methylation, allows cohesin positioning to integrate DNA sequence and epigenetic state.

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