Fig. 2: CPSF Downregulation in progenitors impairs self-renewal and induces differentiation.

a qRT-PCR quantification of CPSF1 knockdown efficiency. Dots represent data points in technical replicates. b Epidermal tissue regenerated by 50% CTRLi labelled by H2B-GFP (green), and 50% CTRLi or CPSFi labelled by H2B-mCherry (red). Scale bar: 100 μM. Representative images from 25 images per condition are shown. c Quantification of red:green ratio comparing tissue sections of CTRLi/CTRLi versus CTRLi/CPSFi (n = 25 images, p = 6.55 × 10⁻¹⁸, t-test, 2 tailed, error bars are presented as mean values ± SEM). d Diagram showing the design of CPSF1 CRISPRi. The locations of three independent sgRNAs (sg1, sg2, and sg3) are labelled relative to the transcription start site (TSS). e qRT-PCR quantification comparing the knockdown efficiency between CPSF CRISPRi versus control. Dots represent data points in technical replicates. f, g Clonogenic assay comparing keratinocytes with CPSF1 CRISPRi vs. non-targeting control. Colonies with diameter > 1/16 inch were quantified. Dots represent data points in technical replicates. h Venn diagram comparing the differentially expressed genes in CPSF siRNA vs. CPSF CRISPRi. These two data sets significantly overlap with each other (Fisher’s exact test, 2-Tail, p = 1.1 × 10⁻³⁰⁸). i Heat map showing fold change of 739 differentially expressed genes (fold change > 2, P < 0.05, Wald test) shared between CPSF1 RNAi and CRISPRi. j Bar graph showing the top GO term associated with the genes significantly altered by CPSF CRISPRi (P values: modified Fisher’s exact test). k, l qRT-PCR comparing mRNA levels of differentiation marker genes between CPSF1 knockdown vs controls. Dots represent data points in technical replicates. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.