OCIAD2 promotes epithelial to mesenchymal transition during mesendoderm specification of human pluripotent stem cells

However, insights into its physiological role, particularly in the context of stem cell differentiation, remain unexplored. Our analyses report that OCIAD2 is expressed in undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and is upregulated upon mesendoderm specification.

Using bulk transcriptome analysis of CRISPR-Cas9 based OCIAD2 knockout and constitutive OCIAD2 expressing hESC lines, we identify that OCIAD2 modulation does not affect stem cell identity but alters their mesendoderm differentiation potential. Our results highlight that OCIAD2 regulates TGFβ, AKT, BMP signalling pathways to promote epithelial to mesenchymal transition during early mesendoderm specification of pluripotent stem cells.