DPPA2/4 and SUMO E3 ligase PIAS4 opposingly regulate the emergence of 2C-like cells and zygotic transcriptional program

The accurate activation of ZGA transcriptome is important for understanding normal embryo development. However, only few factors are found to regulate this process. Here we identified Pias4-Dppa2 axis regulate the activation of ZGA transcriptome, Dppa2 can activate ZGA transcriptome, Pias4 inhibits it by catalyzing the sumoylation of DPPA2, turning Dppa2 from an activator into a repressor. Examination of differential expressed genes between WT and Pias4 knock down/Dppa2 over expression/Dppa2 knock down/Dppa4 knock down/Dppa2/4 knock down mouse embryonic stem cells grown in normal ES culture media by poly(A)+ RNA-Seq. Two biological replicates were completed for each groups.