Genome-wide 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) reassigned in Pten-depleted mESCs along neural differentiation

In this study, we sought to characterize the dynamic 5hmC landscape of both differentiating midbrain and hindbrain progenitors and to establish its correlation with gene expression changes. Moreover, we confirmed that Pten, a pleotropic developmental gene, is being highly expressed under these contexts to participate in the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) towards their commitment into either midbrain or hindbrain identity, likely guiding the dynamic 5hmC changes concurrently. Interestingly, loss of Pten resulted in diminished differentiation potential to commit towards mature cell fates as a result of disrupted mitochondrial functions.