Change of 1.77 in DnmtTKO and 1.8 in Eed2/2 while downregulated genes average a fold change of 0.6 in DnmtTKO and 0.61 in Eed2/2. Interestingly, a highly significant number of genes, 210, are changed in both cell types (Figure 4C). Of those the majority, 167, have gene expression changes that are consistent in both cell types. Interestingly, we see an equal number of genes being upregulatedDNAme and H3K27me3 in Mouse Embryonic Stem CellsFigure 2. Increased H3K27me3 in DnmtTKO ES cells. a, b, Average normalized fold enrichment of ChIP-seq reads in 100 bp bins in DnmtTKO cells relative to wildtype for two representative loci, Tnp1 (a) and Prss21 (b). ChIP-seq peaks are indicated by the grey bars and genes are indicated at the Apocynin bottom. c, qPCR validation of ChIP-seq peaks. Each bar represents the average percent input immunoprecipitated for six biological replicate ChIP experiments using chromatin from wild type v6.5 cells or DnmtTKO. Note that all six ChIP experiments are independent of those used to generate the ChIP-seq libraries. Primers used in (c) are listed in Supplementary Table 4 (* p,.05, ** p,.01, *** p,.001). d, Western blot of acid-extracted 25331948 histones from v6.5 (+ or – 5-AzaC) and DnmtTKO cells. H1 is used as a loading control. Relative intensity of anti-H3K27me3 bands is shown on the bottom. Quantification was done using imageJ and normalized to H1. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053880.gand downregulated. 83 genes are upregulated in both cell types while 84 genes are downregulated. While the genes with significant expression changes in either cell type have a wide range of functions (Table S2), the gene ontologies of the genes being commonly regulated by DnmtTKO and Eed2/2 cells tend to be associated with developmental functions (Figure 4D). Regardless of the cell type, the genes with significant changes in gene expression tend to have HCP promoters containing MedChemExpress TA02 H3K4me3 (Figure 4E). Our data are consistent with other studies that have shown that loss of DNAme does not cause massive deregulation [27,28]. It is novel, however, to see that lossof PRC2 or DNA methyltransferase activity has similar consequences on gene expression, perhaps because both marks are required to control expression of a similar set of transcriptional regulators.DiscussionOur work shows that DNA methylation is globally antagonizing the placement of H3K27me3. It is well established that transposons and repeats are uniformly methylated, and generally believed that transposon defense is an ancient function ofDNAme and H3K27me3 in Mouse Embryonic Stem CellsFigure 3. Global antagonism to H3K27me3 in DnmtTKO cells. a, Classification of promoters identified in ChIP-seq experiment based on presence of H3K27me3 and H3K4me3 in wildtype cells. H3K4 and H3K27 methylation data from [5]. b, Profile of enrichment of ChIP-seq tags in 100 bp bins across the promoter for all genes with or without peaks of increased H3K27me3 in DnmtTKO cells. c, Distribution of ChIP-seq reads according to genomic features. d, Number of ChIP-seq peaks intersecting with either fully-, low- or unmethylated regions according to data from [26]. e, Expression level of Eed in v6.5 and DnmtTKO cells by qRT-PCR. f, Western blot analysis of EZH2 in v6.5 and DnmtTKO cells. Relative intensity of EZH2 band from calculated using ImageJ is shown on the bottom. Intensity levels of EZH2 are normalized to Tubulin. h, Boxplot of expression level change for genes enriched in H3K27me3 in DnmtTKO cells. doi:10.1371/jour.Change of 1.77 in DnmtTKO and 1.8 in Eed2/2 while downregulated genes average a fold change of 0.6 in DnmtTKO and 0.61 in Eed2/2. Interestingly, a highly significant number of genes, 210, are changed in both cell types (Figure 4C). Of those the majority, 167, have gene expression changes that are consistent in both cell types. Interestingly, we see an equal number of genes being upregulatedDNAme and H3K27me3 in Mouse Embryonic Stem CellsFigure 2. Increased H3K27me3 in DnmtTKO ES cells. a, b, Average normalized fold enrichment of ChIP-seq reads in 100 bp bins in DnmtTKO cells relative to wildtype for two representative loci, Tnp1 (a) and Prss21 (b). ChIP-seq peaks are indicated by the grey bars and genes are indicated at the bottom. c, qPCR validation of ChIP-seq peaks. Each bar represents the average percent input immunoprecipitated for six biological replicate ChIP experiments using chromatin from wild type v6.5 cells or DnmtTKO. Note that all six ChIP experiments are independent of those used to generate the ChIP-seq libraries. Primers used in (c) are listed in Supplementary Table 4 (* p,.05, ** p,.01, *** p,.001). d, Western blot of acid-extracted 25331948 histones from v6.5 (+ or – 5-AzaC) and DnmtTKO cells. H1 is used as a loading control. Relative intensity of anti-H3K27me3 bands is shown on the bottom. Quantification was done using imageJ and normalized to H1. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053880.gand downregulated. 83 genes are upregulated in both cell types while 84 genes are downregulated. While the genes with significant expression changes in either cell type have a wide range of functions (Table S2), the gene ontologies of the genes being commonly regulated by DnmtTKO and Eed2/2 cells tend to be associated with developmental functions (Figure 4D). Regardless of the cell type, the genes with significant changes in gene expression tend to have HCP promoters containing H3K4me3 (Figure 4E). Our data are consistent with other studies that have shown that loss of DNAme does not cause massive deregulation [27,28]. It is novel, however, to see that lossof PRC2 or DNA methyltransferase activity has similar consequences on gene expression, perhaps because both marks are required to control expression of a similar set of transcriptional regulators.DiscussionOur work shows that DNA methylation is globally antagonizing the placement of H3K27me3. It is well established that transposons and repeats are uniformly methylated, and generally believed that transposon defense is an ancient function ofDNAme and H3K27me3 in Mouse Embryonic Stem CellsFigure 3. Global antagonism to H3K27me3 in DnmtTKO cells. a, Classification of promoters identified in ChIP-seq experiment based on presence of H3K27me3 and H3K4me3 in wildtype cells. H3K4 and H3K27 methylation data from [5]. b, Profile of enrichment of ChIP-seq tags in 100 bp bins across the promoter for all genes with or without peaks of increased H3K27me3 in DnmtTKO cells. c, Distribution of ChIP-seq reads according to genomic features. d, Number of ChIP-seq peaks intersecting with either fully-, low- or unmethylated regions according to data from [26]. e, Expression level of Eed in v6.5 and DnmtTKO cells by qRT-PCR. f, Western blot analysis of EZH2 in v6.5 and DnmtTKO cells. Relative intensity of EZH2 band from calculated using ImageJ is shown on the bottom. Intensity levels of EZH2 are normalized to Tubulin. h, Boxplot of expression level change for genes enriched in H3K27me3 in DnmtTKO cells. doi:10.1371/jour.