Birds and Mammals
Only trophoblast cells synthesize the transcription factor Cdx2, which downregulates Oct4 and Nanog (Strumpf et al. 2005). The activation of the Cdx2 gene in the trophoblast cells appears to be regulated by the Yap protein, which in turn is a co-factor for the transcription factor Tead4 (Figure 1A). Tead4 is found in the nuclei of both the cells that will become the inner cell mass and the outer cells that will become the trophoblast, but it is activated by Yap only in the outer compartment. That is because Yap can enter the nucleus in the outer cells and thereby allow Tead4 to transcribe trophoblast-specifying genes such as Cdx2 and eomesodermin (Eomes). In contrast, the inner cells, with each of their surfaces surrounded by other cells, activate the gene for Lats, a protein kinase that phosphorylates Yap (Figure 1B). Phosphorylated Yap cannot enter the nucleus and is degraded (Nishioka et al. 2009). Therefore, in the inner cells, Tead4 cannot function and Cdx2 remains untranscribed (see Wu and Scholer 2016). Cdx2 blocks the expression of Oct4, and Oct4 blocks the expression of Cdx2. In this way, the two lineages become separated. (For more, see Chapter 5, Figure 5.10.)
Literature Cited
Nishioka, N. and 17 others. 2009. The Hippo signaling components Lats and Yap pattern Tead4 activity to distinguish mouse trophectoderm from inner cell mass. Dev. Cell 16: 398–410.
Strumpf, D., C.-A. Mao, Y. Yamanaka, A. Ralston, K. Chawengsaksophak, F. Beck and J. Rossant. 2005. Cdx2 is required for correct cell fate specification and differentiation of trophectoderm in the mouse blastocyst. Development 132: 2093–2102.
Wu, G. and H. R. Schöler. 2016. Lineage segregation in the totipotent embryo. Curr. Top. Dev. Biol. 117: 301–317.