Cnot8 Eliminates Naïve Regulation Networks and Is Essential for Naïve-to-Formative Pluripotency Transition (RNA-Seq)

The transition of mammalian early epiblast at different phases is characterized by the differences of pluripotent states and developmental potential, involving extensive transcriptome changes. However, the role of post-transcriptional RNA degradation modulation in cell fate transition remains largely unexplored. Here, we report that deadenylase Cnot8 of Ccr4-Not complex specifically plays a role in naïve-to-formative transition of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). Disruption of Cnot8 results in early embryonic lethality, accompanying with the increased expression levels of naïve transcription factors in mouse epiblasts. Cnot8 depletion leads to accumulated expression abundances and increased poly(A) tail lengths of massive transcripts including mRNAs of naïve regulation networks, impairing the naïve-to-formative pluripotency conversion. Mechanistically, Cnot8 interacts with Tob1 and Pabpc1 to guarantee the prompt mRNA deadenylation and degradation of naïve regulation networks at specific time. Together, these findings delineate the mechanism underlying PSC fate transition through global degradation of mRNAs for naïve regulation networks by Cnot8. Overall design: Total 24 RNA-seq libraries with 12 wild type and 12 Cnot8/7 KO from five differential time points