Functional Antagonism between Sall4 and Plzf Defines Germline Progenitors

• DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2012.02.004
• Publication Date: 2012-03-02T04:51:50Z
• Authors: Robin M. Hobbs; Sharmila Fagoonee; Antonella Papa; Kaitlyn Webster; Fiorella Altruda; Ryuichi Nishinaka...; Li Chai; Pier Paolo Pandolfi
• Keywords: Male; Blotting, Western; Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors; Germline Progenitors; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; Genetics; Animals; Promyelocytic Leukemia Zinc Finger Protein; Cells, Cultured; 0303 health sciences; Stem Cells; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Plzf; Cell Biology; Fibroblasts; Embryo, Mammalian; Flow Cytometry; Sall4; DNA-Binding Proteins; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Germ Cells; Molecular Medicine; Female; Transcription Factors

Transcription factors required for formation of embryonic tissues often maintain their expression in adult stem cell populations, but whether their function remains equivalent is not clear. Here we demonstrate critical and distinct roles for Sall4 in development of embryonic germ cells and differentiation of postnatal spermatogonial progenitor cells (SPCs). In differentiating SPCs, Sall4 levels transiently increase and Sall4 physically interacts with Plzf, a transcription factor exclusively required for adult stem cell maintenance. Mechanistically, Sall4 sequesters Plzf to noncognate chromatin domains to induce expression of Kit, a target of Plzf-mediated repression required for differentiation. Plzf in turn antagonizes Sall4 function by displacing Sall4 from cognate chromatin to induce Sall1 expression. Taken together, these data suggest that transcription factors required for embryonic tissue development postnatally take on distinct roles through interaction with opposing factors, which hence define properties of the adult stem cell compartment.