Comparative Chromatin Dynamics and Expression Profiles of Neural Progenitor and Definitive Endoderm Lineage Differentiation in Two Mammalian Species

One of the fundamental questions in developmental biology is how lineage specification is regulated and what regulatory transcription factors and signaling molecules are required. Lineage specification and differentiation are driven, at least in part, by chromatin remodeling causing changes in the accessibility of transcription factor binding sites. Changes in expression of required transcription factors are also important in the regulation of differentiation. To better understand which transcription factors drive differentiation and how these transcription factors differ between different species and differentiation lineages we differentiated ESCs into two different lineages, definitive endoderm and neural progenitors, and performed pooled RNA-seq and ATAC-seq in two different species, human and rat. Time-course of ESC differentiation into two distinct lineages, definitive endoderm and neural progenitor cells, in human and rat.