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Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have the unique ability to differentiate into derivatives of all three germ layers both in vitro and in vivo. Thus, ESCs provide a unique model for the study of early embryonic development. We report here previously unrecognized effects of histone demethylase plant homeo domain finger protein 8 (PHF8) on mesodermal and early cardiac differentiation. This effect is resulted from the regulation of PHF8 on apoptosis through activating the transcription of pro-apoptotic gene pmaip1. These findings extend the knowledge in understanding of the epigenetic modification in apoptosis during ESC differentiation and of the link between apoptosis and cell lineage decision as well as cardiogenesis.

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have the unique ability to differentiate into derivatives of all three germ layers both in vitro and in vivo. Due to this plasticity, mechanisms controlling cell autonomous and regulatory events critical to in vivo mammalian development have benefitted from the in vitro study of differentiating ESCs [1, 2]. Early embryogenesis and cavity formation as well as early ESC differentiation, for example, are accompanied by a reduction in proliferation and increased apoptosis [3-5]. Withdrawal of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) from mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) cultivated in vitro causes approximately 20%-30% of the cells to die by spontaneous (constitutive) apoptosis [4, 5]. This occurs secondary to the induction of cleaved caspase 3 [3] and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF)-complex proteins [6]. Blockade of spontaneous apoptosis in vitro by a p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor alters the differentiation markers and increases the abundance of both antiapoptotic proteins (Bcl-2, Bcl-X_L) and Ca²⁺-binding proteins [4, 7]. In addition, Ca²⁺ released from type 3 inositol 1, 4, 5-trisphosphate receptors (IP₃R3) negatively regulates this apoptotic response, which in turn modulates the mesodermal lineage commitment of early differentiating mESCs [5]. These findings explain, in part, how apoptosis contributes to specific lineage commitment during early development. However, in contrast to the relatively advanced knowledge of signaling pathways [8], little is known about the contribution of epigenetic regulators, especially, histone lysine demethylases (KDMs), in the regulation of apoptosis during ESC differentiation and how the affected programmed cell death by KDMs contributes to the lineage commitment.

Epigenetic regulators and dynamic histone modifications by KDMs are emerging as important players in ESC fate decisions [9]. Histone modifications coordinate transient changes in gene transcription and help maintaining differential patterns of gene expression during differentiation [10-13]. The molecular and biological functions of many KDMs, however, remain enigmatic during ESC differentiation. PHF8, an X-linked gene encoding an evolutionarily conserved histone demethylase harboring an N-terminal plant homeo domain (PHD) and an active jumonji-C domain (JmjC), is able to catalyze demethylation from histones [14, 15]. It is actively recruited to and enriched in the promoters of transcriptionally active genes [14], and it functions to maintain the active state of rRNA through the removal of the repressive H3K9me2 methylation mark at the active rRNA promoters. Mutation of PHF8 is associated with X-linked mental retardation with cleft lip/cleft palate in human [16-18]. Knockdown of phf8 in mouse embryonic carcinoma P19 cells impairs neuronal differentiation [19] and leads to brain defects in zebrafish by directly regulating the expression of the homeo domain transcription factor MSX1/MSXB [20]. However, the precise function of PHF8 in the regulation of lineage differentiation derived from other germ layers remains to be identified.

Here, we report previously unrecognized effects of the PHF8 histone demethylase on germ layer commitment and differentiation of mESCs. The results are based on an assessment of early steps of differentiation to mesodermal lineages and cardiomyocytes using phf8 knockout (phf8^-/Y) and wild-type (phf8^+/Y) mESCs. The data show that PHF8 regulates gene transcription of a proapoptotic gene pmaip1 (also named Noxa) [21]. Activation or repression of pmaip1 controlled by PHF8 ultimately determines mESC lineage commitment through the regulation of caspase 3-independent apoptosis during mesodermal and cardiac differentiation. Our data reveal that PHF8-mediated the demethylation of histone proteins coordinates ESC lineage commitment through the regulation of apoptosis in early differentiating ESCs.

The PHF8 protein was detectable in undifferentiated ESCs, but its abundance significantly increased within one day of LIF withdrawal. Then it gradually decreased to a level at day 5 lower than that observed in the undifferentiated ESCs (Fig. 1A).    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1002/stem.2333/asset/image_t/stem2333-fig-0001-t.gif

Differentiation of both phf8^+/Y and phf8^-/Y ESCs via EB formation produced normal round shaped EBs but, by day 3, phf8^-/Y EBs were larger than those generated from phf8^+/YESCs, and the size differences were visibly obvious at differentiation days 5 and 7 (Fig. 3A). Although no significant differences in cell viability could be demonstrated between undifferentiated phf8^+/Y and phf8^-/Y ESCs (Fig. 3B), the viability of phf8^-/Y cells was significantly greater than that in phf8^+/Y cells at differentiation days 3 to 7 (Fig. 3C). However, no significant change in BrdU staining was detected by flow cytometry between phf8^+/Y and phf8^-/Y ESCs at differentiation days 0, 3, or 5 (Fig. 3D). Moreover, no significant difference in the cell cycle distribution between the differentiating Phf8^+/Y and Phf8^-/Y ESCs was detected, although the percentage of cells in S phase gradually decreased while those in G1 phase increased upon differentiation (Fig. 3E). Knockout of phf8 thus increases cell numbers in the early differentiating ESCs through the improvement of cell viability without changes in cell proliferation or cell cycle progression.

We then examined whether cell death might account for the differences in the cell viability observed between the differentiating phf8^+/Y and phf8^-/Y ESCs. In undifferentiated ESCs, no significant difference was demonstrated with Annexin V (an early apoptosis marker) staining, TUNEL assay, total DNA fragmentation or caspase 3 protein cleavage between phf8^+/Y and phf8^-/Y cells (Fig. 4A–4C, 4E). In contrast, Annexin V staining (Fig. 4A) and TUNEL assay (Fig. 4B) showed significant decreases in the number of apoptotic cells in phf8^-/Y ESCs at differentiation days 3 and 5 compared with those in phf8^+/Y cells. Genomic DNA fragmentation with a pattern typical for apoptosis was detected in phf8^+/Y cells at differentiation days 3 and 5, but it was reduced in phf8^-/Y cells at the same time points (Fig. 4C). Moreover, approximately 35% of Annexin V⁺ cells were present in FLK-1⁺/phf8^+/Y cells at differentiation day 4, whereas only 9% of the cells were Annexin V⁺ in FLK-1⁺/phf8^-/Y cells (Fig. 4D). The ratio of TUNEL⁺ to either NESTIN⁺ (ectoderm) or SOX17⁺ (endoderm) cells did not differ between the phf8^+/Y and phf8^-/Y cells (Supporting Information Fig. S3C, S3D). In addition, phf8^+/Y ESCs at differentiation days 3 and 5 increased the caspase 3 cleavage (Fig. 4E, upper and lower left panels) and the ratio of cleaved caspase 3 to total caspase 3 protein (Fig. 4E, lower right panel). Unexpectedly, the ratio of cleaved caspase 3 to total caspase 3 in phf8^-/Y ESCs did not significantly differ from that observed in phf8^+/Y ones. Consistently, a significant enhancement of the downstream target PARP1 cleavage [38, 39] was observed at differentiation days 3 and 5, but it was comparable between the phf8^+/Y andphf8^-/Y cells (Fig. 4F). These data suggest that the cell death associated with phf8 function does not operate through the conventional caspase 3-mediated apoptosis.

To understand how PHF8 might regulate apoptosis during early ESC differentiation, we compared the profiles of apoptosis-related gene transcripts in undifferentiated and early differentiating phf8^+/Y and phf8^-/Y ESCs using gene expression microarrays. Among the apoptosis-related genes, the transcript to pmaip1, a proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member crucial in fine-turning the cell death decision [21, 40-42], was markedly increased during early differentiation of phf8^+/Y cells but it was reduced in phf8^-/Y cells at differentiation days 1 and 3.5 (Fig. 5A). These expression patterns were confirmed by qRT-PCR during cardiac differentiation (Fig. 5B), and the results were consistent with the apoptotic pattern observed during the early ESC differentiation (Fig. 4A–4C). In addition, qRT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of pmaip1 did not show any significant difference between the phf8^+/Y and phf8^-/Y cells during the induced ectodermal (Supporting Information Fig. S3E) or endodermal (Supporting Information Fig. S3F) differentiation.