Figure 7: BRD3R-upregulated mitotic genes constitute a PSC fingerprint.

(a,b) Fold enrichment of the 24 BRD3R-regulated mitotic genes in human embryonic stem cells. (a) and human iPSC (b) as compared with 3 BJ samples and one keratinocyte (based on RNA-Seq). Red line, no-change level. (c) Box plots showing higher expression levels of the 24 BRD3R-regulated mitotic genes in human PSC compared with 20 human tissues, based on dataset GSE34200. Left and right box border represent 75 and 25%, and middle vertical lines indicate the median value. Whiskers indicate the upper and lower extremes. (d,e) RT–qPCR verification of the upregulation of the BRD3R-regulated mitotic genes in human pluripotent cells (11 randomly selected genes from the list of 185 mitotic genes upregulated by BRD3R on day 3 of reprogramming; mean±s.d., n=3). (f) Model for BRD3R modulation of reprogramming process. Overexpression of BRD3R upregulates a great number of mitotic genes, and results in increased mitotic activity privileged for reprogramming. BRD3R regulation of mitosis contributes to the enhanced reprogramming efficiency. BRD3R also facilitates the resetting of the PSC cell cycle structure. The gradient turquoise box indicates lower expressions of a set of mitotic genes in the starting fibroblasts; the gradient magenta box designates the elevated expressions of the mitotic genes in BRD3R-expressing reprogramming cells. Red arrows indicate a change from one state to another; black arrows represent positive regulations.