KLF4 inhibits early neural differentiation of ESCs by coordinating specific 3D chromatin structure, a new mechanism of early neural differentiation

Circular RNA has been reported to be dynamically expressed during embryonic development and regulates human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), but the identification and regulation of functional circular RNA in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC) remains unclear. Neural differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) requires precisely orchestrated gene regulation, a process governed in part by changes in 3D chromatin structure. How these changes regulate gene expression in this context remains unclear. In this study, we observed enrichment of the transcription factor KLF4 at some poised or closed enhancers at TSS-linked regions of genes associated with neural differentiation. Combination analysis of ChIP, HiChIP and RNA-seq data indicated that KLF4 loss in ESCs induced changes in 3D chromatin structure, including increased chromatin interaction loops between neural differentiation-associated genes and active enhancers, leading to upregulated expression of neural differentiation-associated genes and therefore early neural differentiation. This study suggests KLF4 inhibits early neural differentiation by regulation of 3D chromatin structure, which is a new mechanism of early neural differentiation. Conclusions: Our study suggests KLF4 inhibits early neural differentiation by regulation of 3D chromatin structure, which is a new mechanism of early neural differentiation. Two biological replicates were analyzed for each experimental condition. WT and KO cells were RNA-seq/HiChIP in ESCs or neuro induction at day 12.