Heading towards a dead end: The role of DND1 in germ line differentiation of human iPSCs

PLoS One. 2021 Oct 15;16(10):e0258427. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258427. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

The DND microRNA-mediated repression inhibitor 1 (DND1) is a conserved RNA binding protein (RBP) that plays important roles in survival and fate maintenance of primordial germ cells (PGCs) and in the development of the male germline in zebrafish and mice. Dead end was shown to be expressed in human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), PGCs and spermatogonia, but little is known about its specific role concerning pluripotency and human germline development. Here we use CRISPR/Cas mediated knockout and PGC-like cell (PGCLC) differentiation in human iPSCs to determine if DND1 (1) plays a role in maintaining pluripotency and (2) in specification of PGCLCs. We generated several clonal lines carrying biallelic loss of function mutations and analysed their differentiation potential towards PGCLCs and their gene expression on RNA and protein levels via RNA sequencing and mass spectrometry. The generated knockout iPSCs showed no differences in pluripotency gene expression, proliferation, or trilineage differentiation potential, but yielded reduced numbers of PGCLCs as compared with their parental iPSCs. RNAseq analysis of mutated PGCLCs revealed that the overall gene expression remains like non-mutated PGCLCs. However, reduced expression of genes associated with PGC differentiation and maintenance (e.g., NANOS3, PRDM1) was observed. Together, we show that DND1 iPSCs maintain their pluripotency but exhibit a reduced differentiation to PGCLCs. This versatile model will allow further analysis of the specific mechanisms by which DND1 influences PGC differentiation and maintenance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • CRISPR-Cas Systems / genetics
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Cell Lineage
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Gene Editing
  • Gene Expression
  • Germ Cells / cytology
  • Germ Cells / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / cytology
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Neoplasm Proteins / genetics
  • Neoplasm Proteins / metabolism*
  • Positive Regulatory Domain I-Binding Factor 1 / genetics
  • Positive Regulatory Domain I-Binding Factor 1 / metabolism
  • Principal Component Analysis
  • RNA / chemistry
  • RNA / genetics
  • RNA / metabolism
  • RNA, Guide, CRISPR-Cas Systems / metabolism
  • RNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
  • RNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Single-Cell Analysis

Substances

  • Dnd1 protein, human
  • NANOS3 protein, human
  • Neoplasm Proteins
  • RNA, Guide, CRISPR-Cas Systems
  • RNA-Binding Proteins
  • PRDM1 protein, human
  • RNA
  • Positive Regulatory Domain I-Binding Factor 1

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Clinical Research Unit 326—‘Male Germ Cells: from Genes to Function’ (CRU326, SCHO 340/8-1 and SCHL 394/15-1) and by pilot project 6 of the CRU326. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.