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Nonsense-mediated RNA decay (NMD) is a highly conserved pathway that selectively degrades specific subsets of RNA transcripts. Here, we provide evidence that NMD regulates early human developmental cell fate. We found that NMD factors tend to be expressed at higher

Nonsense-mediated RNA decay (NMD) is a highly conserved pathway that selectively degrades specific subsets of RNA transcripts. Here, we provide evidence that NMD regulates early human developmental cell fate. We found that NMD factors tend to be expressed at higher levels in human pluripotent cells than in differentiated cells, raising the possibility that NMD must be downregulated to permit differentiation. Loss- and gain-of-function experiments in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) demonstrated that, indeed, NMD downregulation is essential for efficient generation of definitive endoderm. RNA-seq analysis identified NMD target transcripts induced when NMD is suppressed in hESCs, including many encoding signaling components. This led us to test the role of TGF-β and BMP signaling, which we found NMD acts through to influence definitive endoderm versus mesoderm fate. Our results suggest that selective RNA decay is critical for specifying the developmental fate of specific human embryonic cell lineages.

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    Title
    • Nonsense-Mediated RNA Decay Influences Human Embryonic Stem Cell Fate
    Date Created
    2016-06-14
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    • The final version of this article, as published in Stem Cell Reports, can be viewed online at: http://www.cell.com/stem-cell-reports/abstract/S2213-6711(16)30063-7

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    Lou, C., Dumdie, J., Goetz, A., Shum, E. Y., Brafman, D., Liao, X., . . . Wilkinson, M. F. (2016). Nonsense-Mediated RNA Decay Influences Human Embryonic Stem Cell Fate. Stem Cell Reports, 6(6), 844-857. doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2016.05.008

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