Pre-existing chromatin states regulate KLF4 binding to eliminate leukemic cells (ATAC-Seq)

While recent work suggested that histone modifications could regulate the activity of pioneer transcription factors in vitro, it was unclear whether these findings applied in vivo, or if chromatin states could influence transcription factor binding to affect cell fate. In this work, we identified that H3K18ac, a potential caner-related histone mark, could regulate Klf4's genomic binding, thereby affecting divergent cellular destinies in leukemia cells and HSPCs.

This unveils prospective opportunities for applying transcription factors combined with epigenetic markers in clinical applications. In summary, our results suggest that pre-existing chromatin states could regulate transcription factor binding in vivo, and therefore influence the cell fate decision.