Cops5 safeguards genomic stability of embryonic stem cells through regulating cellular metabolism and DNA repair

The highly conserved COP9 signalosome (CSN), composed of 8 subunits (Cops1 to Cops8), has been implicated in pluripotency maintenance of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Yet, the mechanism for the CSN to regulate pluripotency remains elusive. We previously showed that Cops2, independent of the CSN, is essential for the pluripotency maintenance of mouse ESCs. In this study, we set out to investigate how Cops5 and Cops8 regulate ESC differentiation and tried to establish Cops5 and Cops8 knockout (KO) ESC lines by CRISPR/Cas9. To our surprise, no Cops5 KO ESC clones were identified out of 127 clones, while three Cops8 KO ESC lines were established out of 70 clones. We then constructed an inducible Cops5 KO ESC line. Cops5 KO leads to decreased expression of the pluripotency marker Nanog, proliferation defect, G2/M cellcycle arrest, and apoptosis of ESCs. Further analysis revealed dual roles of Cops5 in maintaining genomic stability of ESCs. On one hand, Cops5 suppresses the autophagic degradation of Mtch2 to direct cellular metabolism toward glycolysis and minimize reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, thereby reducing endogenous DNA damage. On the other hand, Cops5 is required for high DNA damage repair (DDR) activities in ESC5. Without Cops5, elevated ROS and reduced DDR activities lead to DNA damage accumulation in ESCs. Subsequently, p53 is activated to trigger G2/M arrest and apoptosis. Altogether, our studies reveal an essential role of Cops5 in maintaining genome integrity and self-renewal of ESCs by regulating cellular metabolism and DDR pathways.