Nuclear Exosome Targeting Complex Core Factor Zcchc8 Regulates the Degradation of LINE1 RNA in Early Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cells

• Main Authors: You Wu, Wenqiang Liu, Jiayu Chen, Shuaitong Liu, Mingzhu Wang, Lei Yang, Chuan Chen, Meijie Qi, Yiwen Xu, Zhibin Qiao, Rushuang Yan, Xiaochen Kou, Yanhong Zhao, Bin Shen, Jiqing Yin, Hong Wang, Yawei Gao, Shaorong Gao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2019-11-01
• Series: Cell Reports
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124719313695

Summary: The nuclear exosome targeting (NEXT) complex is responsible for specific nuclear RNA degradation in mammalian cells. However, its function in development remains unknown. Here, we find that the depletion of a central factor of the NEXT complex, Zcchc8, in mouse results in developmental defects, a shortened lifespan, and infertility. We find that Zcchc8-deficient embryonic stem cells (ESCs) exhibit proliferation abnormalities and reduced developmental potencies. Importantly, the transcripts of retrotransposon element LINE1 are found to be targeted by Zcchc8 and degraded by a Zcchc8-mediated mechanism. We further find that sustained expression of higher levels of LINE1 RNA is detected in maternal Zcchc8-depleted oocytes and embryos. Zcchc8-depleted oocytes show higher chromatin accessibility and developmental defects in both meiotic maturation and embryogenesis after fertilization. Collectively, our study defines Zcchc8-mediated RNA degradation as an important post-transcription regulation of LINE1 transcripts in early embryos and ESCs, which play vital roles in the pluripotency and early development. : Wu et al. show that the core factor of NEXT complex, Zcchc8, is essential for embryo development and ESC pluripotency. Zcchc8 is found to target and degrade the retrotransposon LINE1 RNAs in ESCs as well as embryos, which expands knowledge of post-transcriptional regulation of repetitive elements. Keywords: NEXT complex, Zcchc8, LINE1, retrotransposon, oocyte, early embryo, chromatin accessibility