The remodeling of bivalent chromatin is essential for mouse peri-implantation embryogenesis [hESC valid]

Since its discovered, the dynamics and molecular regulation of bivalent chromatin during early embryogenesis remain poorly understood. We trace gene expression and bivalent chromatin dynamics in peri-implantation mouse embryogenesis, showing bifurcated establishment in epiblast and primitive endoderm. We identify transiently maintained bivalent domains (TB domains) in the epiblast, crucial for pluripotency progression. Our study reveals 22 candidate factors, including ZBTB17, essential for resolving TB domains and activating pluripotency regulators. These dynamics are conserved in human pluripotent transition. Overall design: After establishing a homozygous ZBTB17-knockout hEPSC line, we induced the transition from naïve to primed pluripotency and subsequently collected transcriptomic and histone modification data.