Transcriptional Impact of E-cadherin Loss on Embryonic Stem Cells

In embryonic stem cells, E-cadherin plays a crucial role in sustaining the pluripotent state; this is achieved by the simultaneous presence of active core pluripotency transcriptional network, proper cell-cell adhesion, and an undifferentiatedstate chromatin signature. In contrast, N-cadherin is linked to a more differentiated cell state but can support pluripotency if expressed as a knock-in allele from the E-cadherin locus. This study describes the N-cadherin ki/ki embryonic stem cells, which lack E-cadherin expression, to identify transcriptional changes distinct from the known changes observed in Ecadherin knockout embryonic stem cells. As a result, a remarkable similarity in the expression profiles of N-cadherin ki/ki and wild-type embryonic stem cells was observed. Further analysis of the slight differences revealed significant alterations in several biological processes such as chromatin organization and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. The findings presented here shed light on a new aspect of E-cadherin biology in embryonic stem cells and lay the foundations for comprehensive understanding of E-cadherin's functional relevance beyond the prominent role in maintaining pluripotency.