Histone demethylase JMJD2B/KDM4B regulates transcriptional program via distinctive epigenetic targets and protein interactors for the maintenance of trophoblast stem cells

Trophoblast stem cell (TSC) is crucial to the formation of placenta in mammals. Histone demethylase JMJD2 (also known as KDM4) family proteins have been previously shown to support self-renewal and differentiation of stem cells. However, their roles in the context of the trophoblast lineage remain unclear. Here, we find that knockdown of Jmjd2b resulted in differentiation of TSCs, suggesting an indispensable role of JMJD2B/KDM4B in maintaining the stemness. Through the integration of transcriptome and ChIP-seq profiling data, we show that JMJD2B is associated with a loss of H3K36me3 in a subset of embryonic lineage genes which are marked by H3K9me3 for stable repression. By characterizing the JMJD2B binding motifs and other transcription factor binding datasets, we discover that JMJD2B forms a protein complex with AP-2 family transcription factor TFAP2C and histone demethylase LSD1. The JMJD2B–TFAP2C–LSD1 complex predominantly occupies active gene promoters, whereas the TFAP2C–LSD1 complex is located at putative enhancers, suggesting that these proteins mediate enhancer–promoter interaction for gene regulation. We conclude that JMJD2B is vital to the TSC transcriptional program and safeguards the trophoblast cell fate via distinctive protein interactors and epigenetic targets.