Dissecting neural differentiation regulatory networks through epigenetic footprinting

Human pluripotent stem cell derived models that accurately recapitulate neural development in vitro and allow for the generation of specific neuronal subtypes are of major interest to the stem cell and biomedical community. Notch signaling, particularly through the Notch effector HES5, is a major pathway critical for the onset and maintenance of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) in the embryonic and adult nervous system1-3. This can be exploited to isolate distinct populations of human embryonic stem (ES) cell derived NPCs4. Here, we report the transcriptional and epigenomic analysis of six consecutive stages derived from a HES5-GFP reporter ES cell line5 differentiated along the neural trajectory aimed at modeling key cell fate decisions including specification, expansion and patterning during the ontogeny of cortical neural stem and progenitor cells. In order to dissect the regulatory mechanisms that orchestrate the stage-specific differentiation process, we developed a computational framework to infer key regulators of each cell state transition based on the progressive remodeling of the epigenetic landscape and then validated these through a pooled shRNA screen. We were also able to refine our previous observations on epigenetic priming at transcription factor binding sites and show here that they are mediated by combinations of core and stage- specific factors. Taken together, we demonstrate the utility of our system and outline a general framework, not limited to the context of the neural lineage, to dissect regulatory circuits of differentiation.