Molecular basis of BMP-responsiveness switching during neural development

Bone morphogenetic proteins induce neuronal and astrocytic differentiation in mid-gestational (e.g. E11+2DIV), and late-gestational (e.g. E14+5DIV) neural stem cells (NSCs), respectively. We found that Smads, downstream transcription factors of BMP signaling, target dramatically different genomic regions in the neurogenic and gliogenic NSCs. The purpose of this study is to understand histone H3K27 tri-methylation profiles around Smads-binding sites in neurogenic and gliogenic NSCs, and uncover the mechanisms underlying distinct effects of BMPs on developmentally different NSCs. We found that histone H3K27 tri-methylation around Smads binding sites quickly change as gestation proceeds, strongly associated with the alteration of accessibility of Smads to the regions. Examination of histone H3K27me3 profiles in E11 or E14 derived NSCs (2 replicates) and IgG as negative control.