Conserved Transcription Factors Control Chromatin Accessibility and Gene Expression to Maintain Cell Fate Stability and Restrict Reprogramming of Differentiated Cells

The comprehensive characterization of mechanisms safeguarding cell fate identity in differentiated cells is crucial for 1) our understanding of how differentiation is maintained in healthy tissues or misregulated in disease states and 2) to improve our ability to use direct reprogramming for regenerative purposes. To uncover novel fate-stabilizing regulators, we employed a genome-wide TF siRNA screen followed by a high-complexity combinatorial evaluation of top performing hits, in a cardiac reprogramming assay in mouse embryonic fibroblasts, and subsequently validated our findings in cardiac, neuronal and iPSCs reprogramming assays in primary human fibroblasts and adult endothelial cells. This approach identified a conserved set of 4 TFs (ATF7IP, JUNB, SP7, and ZNF207 [AJSZ]) that robustly opposes cell fate reprogramming, as demonstrated by up to 6-fold increases in efficiency upon AJSZ knockdown in both lineage- and cell type-independent manners. Mechanistically, ChIP-seq and single-cell ATAC-seq analyses, revealed that AJSZ bind to both open and closed chromatin in a genome-wide and regionalized fashion, thereby limiting reprogramming TFs access to target DNA and ability to remodel the chromatin. In parallel, integration of ChIP-seq and RNA-seq data followed by systematic functional gene testing, identified that AJSZ also promote cell fate stability by proximally down-regulating a conserved set of genes involved in the regulation of cell fate specification (MEF2C), proteome remodeling (TPP1, PPIC), ATP homeostasis (EFHD1), and inflammation signaling (IL7R), thereby limiting cells ability to undergo large-scale phenotypic changes. Finally, simultaneous knock-down of AJSZ in combination with cardiac reprogramming TFs overexpression improved heart function by 250% as compared to no treatment and 50% as compared to MGT, 1 month after myocardial infarction. In sum, this study uncovers a novel evolutionarily conserved mechanism mediating cell fate stability in differentiated cells and also identifies AJSZ as promising therapeutic targets for regenerative purposes in adult organs. Significance Statement Differentiated cells can be converted from one cell type into another by overexpressing lineage-determining transcription factors. Direct lineage reprogramming represents a promising strategy for regenerative medicine, but current clinical applications remain limited by the low yield of the reprogramming process. Here, we present the identification and detailed mechanistic study of a novel mechanisms opposing reprogramming process and promoting cell fate stability. Using a highthroughput screening technique, we identified four transcription factors that act as blockades to cell type change. By tracking chromatin and gene expression changes, we reconstructed a conserved pathway mediating cell fate stability in differentiated cells.