Kdm6b-mediated epigenetic coordination of temporal precision during motor neuron differentiation.
Overview
- School of Life Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032 Anhui China
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022 Anhui China
- Medical College, Hefei Vocational and Technical College, Hefei, 238000 Anhui China
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230601 Anhui China
- Department of Anesthesiology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University (The First People’s Hospital of Hefei), Hefei, Anhui 230061 China
Abstract
Histone modifiers are crucial for instructing multiple-stage cellular differentiation, yet the mechanisms underlying their temporal precision remain enigmatic. Here, we demonstrate that the H3K27 demethylase Kdm6b acts as an epigenetic regulator, coordinating stepwise motor neuron (MN) differentiation through sequential partnerships with stage-specific transcription factors (TFs). Genome-wide profiling reveals a progressive gain in Kdm6b occupancy, especially at distal regulatory elements, as differentiation proceeds. Kdm6b dynamically remodels chromatin landscapes by coordinating H3K27me3 removal with H3K27ac and H3K4me1 acquisition, thereby enabling timed gene activation from MN specification to maturation. Stage-specific inhibition of Kdm6b compromises the ordered expression of developmental genes. Mechanistically, Kdm6b interacts with temporal TFs over time to ensure precise transcriptional control and MN differentiation. Our work elucidates how a single epigenetic regulator achieves temporal fidelity of stepwise MN development, providing insight into epigenetic regulation of developmental timing.
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Code
The paper links to its data, not to its authors' code: see the Data section.
Tracing map
A tracing map links a paper to the code its authors published: this paper has none, so it has no map.
Data
Datasets cited
- geo:GSE306766, at NCBI GEO; found in “Data availability”
- uniprot.org/
uniprot/ , at UniProt; found in the text, “Kdm6b dynamically coordinates genomic…”d4d4h8 - uniprot.org/
uniprot/ , at UniProt; found in the text, “Kdm6b dynamically coordinates genomic…”d4h8d5
Other data links
- ebi.ac.uk/
biostudies/ , EMBL-EBI; found in the text, “Author contributions”sourcedata
Data availability
All sequencing data generated have been deposited in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database under accession number GSE306766 (https://
The source data of this paper are collected in the following database record: biostudies:S-SCDT-10_103
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Versions
The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.
Version 1, 28 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 11 authors, 3 keywords, 10 MeSH terms, 3 funders, 70 references.
Cite
This paper
Ren, H., Liu, Q., Li, B., Yu, X., Liang, D., Li, S., Pan, B., Gao, Q., Deng, W., Yu, J.-M., & Wang, W. (2026). Kdm6b-mediated epigenetic coordination of temporal precision during motor neuron differentiation. EMBO reports, 27(13), 3665-3688. https://
BibTeX
@article{ren2026kdm6b,
author = {Ren, Haihan and Liu, Qicheng and Li, Bingqian and Yu, Xuetong and Liang, Dan and Li, Shuangling and Pan, Bing and Gao, Qian and Deng, Wenhong and Yu, Jun-Ma and Wang, Wenxian},
title = {{Kdm6b-mediated epigenetic coordination of temporal precision during motor neuron differentiation}},
journal = {EMBO reports},
year = {2026},
month = may,
volume = {27},
number = {13},
pages = {3665--3688},
publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
issn = {1469-221X},
doi = {10.1038/
url = {https://
pmid = {42192028},
pmcid = {PMC13354772}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Ren, Haihan
AU - Liu, Qicheng
AU - Li, Bingqian
AU - Yu, Xuetong
AU - Liang, Dan
AU - Li, Shuangling
AU - Pan, Bing
AU - Gao, Qian
AU - Deng, Wenhong
AU - Yu, Jun-Ma
AU - Wang, Wenxian
TI - Kdm6b-mediated epigenetic coordination of temporal precision during motor neuron differentiation
T2 - EMBO reports
J2 - EMBO Rep
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 27
IS - 13
SP - 3665
EP - 3688
SN - 1469-221X
PB - Nature Publishing Group
DO - 10.1038/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
{
"id": "10.1038/
"type": "article-journal",
"title": "Kdm6b-mediated epigenetic coordination of temporal precision during motor neuron differentiation",
"container-title": "EMBO reports",
"author": [
{
"family": "Ren",
"given": "Haihan"
},
{
"family": "Liu",
"given": "Qicheng"
},
{
"family": "Li",
"given": "Bingqian"
},
{
"family": "Yu",
"given": "Xuetong"
},
{
"family": "Liang",
"given": "Dan"
},
{
"family": "Li",
"given": "Shuangling"
},
{
"family": "Pan",
"given": "Bing"
},
{
"family": "Gao",
"given": "Qian"
},
{
"family": "Deng",
"given": "Wenhong"
},
{
"family": "Yu",
"given": "Jun-Ma"
},
{
"family": "Wang",
"given": "Wenxian"
}
],
"container-title-short":
"volume": "27",
"issue": "13",
"page": "3665-3688",
"DOI": "10.1038/
"PMID": "42192028",
"PMCID": "PMC13354772",
"ISSN": "1469-221X",
"publisher": "Nature Publishing Group",
"URL": "https://
"language": "en",
"issued": {
"date-parts": [
[
2026,
5,
26
]
]
}
}
Similar papers
The papers with a page that share the most with this one: the tools found in their code, their categories, datasets, cited references and authors, the rarest counting most.
- [1] doi:10.1038/s44319-026-00855-9 [code]
- IRAK4 constrains cellular plasticity during chemically-induced cell fate reprogramming into multiple lineages.Journal: EMBO reportsIn common: mouse, 8 references
- [2] doi:10.1101/gad.352886.125
- Independent control of neurogenesis and dorsoventral patterning by NKX2-2.Journal: Genes & developmentIn common: mouse, 4 references
- [3] doi:10.1093/nar/gkag374
- Dual role of ZIC2 during neural induction: from priming transcription factor to enhancer activator.Journal: Nucleic acids researchIn common: mouse, 6 references
- [4] doi:10.1038/s41467-026-76468-6
- Cell autonomous regional differences in oligodendrocyte lineage development and responses to oncohistone H3.3 K27M.Journal: Nature communicationsIn common: mouse, 5 references
- [5] doi:10.1167/iovs.67.10.41
- Ascl1 Represses Müller Glial and Promotes Rod Photoreceptor Fate Through Repressing Notch Signaling in Late Retinal Progenitor Cells.Journal: Investigative ophthalmology & visual scienceIn common: mouse, 6 references
- [6] doi:10.1093/nar/gkag788 [code]
- Neuronal activity-driven 3D chromatin dynamics in cortical pyramidal neurons depend on SATB2.Journal: Nucleic acids researchIn common: mouse, 6 references
- [7] doi:10.1186/s13293-026-00885-x [code]
- A transient sex-biased transcriptional program shapes early postnatal L2/
3 neuron development. Journal: Biology of sex differencesIn common: mouse, 5 references - [8] doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10512-9 [code]
- Astrocyte glucocorticoid receptor signalling restricts neuronal plasticity.Journal: NatureIn common: mouse, 5 references
- [9] doi:10.1002/advs.76695
- NSD2 Coordinates the Neurogenic-to-Gliogenic Transition via H3K36me2-Dependent Activation of the EGFR-ERK Pathway.Journal: Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)In common: mouse, 5 references
- [10] doi:10.1186/s13059-026-04177-w [code]
- Genomic sequence evolution underlying human neocortical interareal diversification.Journal: Genome biologyIn common: mouse, 4 references
Contribute
The authors of this paper can claim it, correct its record and validate its tracing map, and the maintainers of its code (its owner, or a public member of its organization) correct what it says of their repository; anyone signed in can ask for its removal. Every request goes to OSCR's own machine, which answers it; your account page follows them.
Sign in with ORCID to claim this paper as one of its authors, correct its record or validate its tracing map: when the paper's metadata lists your ORCID iD, you are recognized at once. Maintainers of its code: sign in with GitHub, then claim the repository on your account page.
Claim this paper
Correct its record
Say what each link of this record is, remove the ones that are not the paper's, add the ones that are missing. The correction becomes a new version of the record, in its Versions section.
Request its removal
To ask OSCR to remove this record, the copies of its authors' scripts or its tracing map, use the removal request page: signed in, you say who you are, what to remove and why, then review and confirm the request. Published rules decide every request (how).
Discussion, reproductions, activity
Discussion: questions and error reports about this paper and its code, from signed-in readers and its authors. It opens with sign-in.
Reproductions: reports from readers who ran the authors' code: what they reproduced, with which environment, commit and data. It opens with sign-in.
Activity: what happens around this paper: new versions of its record, its map's validation, discussions and reproductions. It opens with sign-in.