Inhibition of protein kinase C increases Prdm14 level to promote self-renewal of embryonic stem cells through reducing Suv39h-induced H3K9 methylation.

Inhibition of protein kinase C (PKC) efficiently promoted the self-renewal of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). However, information about the function of PKC inhibition remains lacking. Here, RNA-sequencing showed that the addition of Go6983 significantly inhibited the expression of de novo methyltransferases (Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b) and their regulator Dnmt3l, resulting in global hypomethylation of DNA in mouse ESCs. Mechanistically, PR domain-containing 14 (Prdm14), a site-specific transcriptional activator, partially contributed to Go6983-mediated repression of Dnmt3 genes. Administration of Go6983 increased Prdm14 expression mainly through the inhibition of PKCδ. High constitutive expression of Prdm14 phenocopied the ability of Go6983 to maintain` mouse ESC stemness in the absence of self-renewal-promoting cytokines. In contrast, the knockdown of Prdm14 eliminated the response to PKC inhibition and substantially impaired the Go6983-induced resistance of mouse ESCs to differentiation. Furthermore, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry profiling and Western blotting revealed low levels of Suv39h1 and Suv39h2 in Go6983-treated mouse ESCs. Suv39h enzymes are histone methyltransferases that recognize dimethylated and trimethylated histone H3K9 specifically and usually function as transcriptional repressors. Consistently, the inhibition of Suv39h1 by RNA interference or the addition of the selective inhibitor chaetocin increased Prdm14 expression. Moreover, chromatin immunoprecipitation assay showed that Go6983 treatment led to decreased enrichment of dimethylation and trimethylation of H3K9 at the Prdm14 promoter but increased RNA polymerase Ⅱ binding affinity. Together, our results provide novel insights into the pivotal association between PKC inhibition-mediated self-renewal and epigenetic changes, which will help us better understand the regulatory network of stem cell pluripotency.