Polycomb repressive complex 2 shields naïve human pluripotent cells from trophectoderm differentiation.

The first lineage choice in human embryo development separates trophectoderm from the inner cell mass. Naïve human embryonic stem cells are derived from the inner cell mass and offer possibilities to explore how lineage integrity is maintained. Here, we discover that polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) maintains naïve pluripotency and restricts differentiation to trophectoderm and mesoderm lineages.

Evaluating totipotency using criteria of increasing stringency.

Totipotency is the ability of a single cell to give rise to all of the differentiated cell types that build the conceptus, yet how to capture this property in vitro remains incompletely understood. Defining totipotency relies on a variety of assays of variable stringency. Here, we describe criteria to define totipotency.

iFISH is a publically available resource enabling versatile DNA FISH to study genome architecture.

DNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (DNA FISH) is a powerful method to study chromosomal organization in single cells. At present, there is a lack of free resources of DNA FISH probes and probe design tools which can be readily applied. Here, we describe iFISH, an open-source repository currently comprising 380 DNA FISH probes targeting multiple loci on the human autosomes and chromosome X, as well as a genome-wide database of optimally designed oligonucleotides and a freely accessible web interface ( http://ifish4u.

Comprehensive Cell Surface Protein Profiling Identifies Specific Markers of Human Naive and Primed Pluripotent States.

Human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) exist in naive and primed states and provide important models to investigate the earliest stages of human development. Naive cells can be obtained through primed-to-naive resetting, but there are no reliable methods to prospectively isolate unmodified naive cells during this process. Here we report comprehensive profiling of cell surface proteins by flow cytometry in naive and primed human PSCs.

Position- and Hippo signaling-dependent plasticity during lineage segregation in the early mouse embryo.

The segregation of the trophectoderm (TE) from the inner cell mass (ICM) in the mouse blastocyst is determined by position-dependent Hippo signaling. However, the window of responsiveness to Hippo signaling, the exact timing of lineage commitment and the overall relationship between cell commitment and global gene expression changes are still unclear. Single-cell RNA sequencing during lineage segregation revealed that the TE transcriptional profile stabilizes earlier than the ICM and prior to blastocyst formation.

Single-cell sequencing of the small-RNA transcriptome.

Little is known about the heterogeneity of small-RNA expression as small-RNA profiling has so far required large numbers of cells. Here we present a single-cell method for small-RNA sequencing and apply it to naive and primed human embryonic stem cells and cancer cells. Analysis of microRNAs and fragments of tRNAs and small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) reveals the potential of microRNAs as markers for different cell types and states.

Single-cell analyses of X Chromosome inactivation dynamics and pluripotency during differentiation.

Pluripotency, differentiation, and X Chromosome inactivation (XCI) are key aspects of embryonic development. However, the underlying relationship and mechanisms among these processes remain unclear. Here, we systematically dissected these features along developmental progression using mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) and single-cell RNA sequencing with allelic resolution.

Application of a low cost array-based technique - TAB-Array - for quantifying and mapping both 5mC and 5hmC at single base resolution in human pluripotent stem cells.

5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), an oxidized derivative of 5-methylcytosine (5mC), has been implicated as an important epigenetic regulator of mammalian development. Current procedures use DNA sequencing methods to discriminate 5hmC from 5mC, limiting their accessibility to the scientific community. Here we report a method that combines TET-assisted bisulfite conversion with Illumina 450K DNA methylation arrays for a low-cost high-throughput approach that distinguishes 5hmC and 5mC signals at base resolution.