PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Agathe Chaigne
AU  - Celine Labouesse
AU  - Meghan Agnew
AU  - Edouard Hannezo
AU  - Kevin J Chalut
AU  - Ewa K Paluch
TI  - Abscission couples cell division to embryonic stem cell fate
AID  - 10.1101/798165
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 798165
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/10/08/798165.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/10/08/798165.full
AB  - Cell fate transitions are key to development and homeostasis. It is thus essential to understand the cellular mechanisms controlling fate transitions. Cell division has been implicated in fate decisions in many stem cells, including neuronal and epithelial progenitors. In other stem cells, such as embryonic stem (ES) cells, the role of division remains unclear. Here we show that exit from naïve pluripotency in mouse ES cells generally occurs after a division. We further show that exit timing is strongly correlated between sister cells, which remain connected by cytoplasmic bridges long after division, and that bridge abscission progressively accelerates as cells exit naïve pluripotency. Finally, interfering with abscission impairs exit from naïve pluripotency. Altogether, our data indicate that a switch in the division machinery leading to faster abscission is crucial for pluripotency exit. Our study identifies abscission as a key step coupling cell division to fate transitions.