BET activity plays an essential role in control of stem cell attributes in Xenopus

Here we examine the role that epigenetic readers of the BET (Bromodomain and Extra Terminal) family play in controlling the potential of pluripotent blastula and neural crest cells. We find that inhibiting BET activity leads to loss of pluripotency and inability to respond to lineage instructing cues at blastula stages, and a loss of neural crest at neurula stages. We compare the effects of HDAC (an eraser of acetylation marks) and BET (a reader of acetylation) inhibition and find that they lead to similar cellular outcomes through distinct effects on the transcriptome. TSA and IBET or vehicle treated animal pole explants (epidermal or neural crest-reprogrammed) were collected at stages 9,13, and 17, and total RNA was collected from those samples and submitted for high throughout sequencing.