DNA methylation restricts coordinated germline and neural fates in embryonic stem cell differentiation

Abstract

Somatic DNA methylation is established early during mammalian development, as embryonic cells transition from naive to primed pluripotency. This precedes the emergence of the three somatic germ layers, but also the segregation of the germline that undergoes genome-wide DNA demethylation after specification. While DNA methylation is essential for embryogenesis, the point at which it becomes critical during differentiation and whether all lineages equally depend on it is unclear. Using culture modeling of cellular transitions, we found that DNA methylation-free embryonic stem cells (ESCs) with a triple DNA methyltransferase knockout (TKO) normally progressed through the continuum of pluripotency states, but demonstrated skewed differentiation abilities towards neural versus other somatic lineages. More saliently, TKO ESCs were fully competent for establishing primordial germ cell-like cells (PGCLCs), even showing temporally extended and self-sustained capacity for the germline fate. By mapping chromatin states, we found that the neural and germline lineages are linked by a similar enhancer dynamics during priming, defined by common sets of methyl-sensitive transcription factors that fail to be decommissioned in absence of DNA methylation. We propose that DNA methylation controls the temporality of a coordinated neural-germline axis of preferred differentiation route during early development.