MYOCD is Required for Cardiomyocyte-like Cells Induction from Human Urine Cells and Fibroblasts Through Remodeling Chromatin

Despite direct reprogramming of human cardiac fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocytes (iCM) holds great potential for heart regeneration, the mechanisms are poorly understood. Whether other human somatic cells could be reprogrammed into cardiomyocytes is also unknown. Here, we report human urine cells (hUCs) could be converted into CM-like cells from different donors and the related chromatin accessibility dynamics (CAD) by assay for transposase accessible chromatin(ATAC)-seq. hUCs transduced by MEF2C, TBX5, MESP1 and MYOCD but without GATA4 expressed multiple cardiac specific genes, exhibited Ca2+ oscillation potential and sarcomeric structures, and contracted synchronously in coculture with mouse CM. Additionally, we found that MYOCD is required for both closing and opening critical loci, mainly by hindering the opening of loci enriched with motifs for the TEAD and AP1 family and promoting the closing of loci enriched with ETS motifs. These changes differ partially from CAD observed during iCM induction from human fibroblasts. Collectively, our study offers one practical platform for iCM generation and insights into mechanisms for iCM fate determination.