FGF2-induced Redox Signaling: A Mechanism Regulating Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Driven Histone Acetylation and NANOG Upregulation

Precise control of pluripotency is a requirement for the safe and effective use of hPSCs in research and therapies. Here we report that pyruvate dehydrogenase upregulates histone H3 pan acetylation and levels of pluripotency marker NANOG in 5% O2. Pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) is an essential metabolic switch and a bottleneck for the glycolytic production of acetyl-CoA. Silencing of gene expression showed that PDH is regulated by the activity of its phosphatase PDP1. We show that PDP1 is sensitive to reactive oxygen species-mediated inactivation, leading to the downregulation of H3 pan acetylation and NANOG levels. Furthermore, we show that FGF2, a cytokine commonly used to maintain pluripotency activates pyruvate dehydrogenase through MEK1/2-ERK1/2 signaling pathway-mediated downregulation of ROS in 5% O2, thus promoting histone acetylation. Our results show the importance of pyruvate dehydrogenase in regulating energy metabolism and its connection to pluripotency. Furthermore, our data highlight the role of reactive oxygen species and redox homeostasis in pluripotency maintenance and differentiation. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.