Aquarius RNA helicase Protects Pluripotent Stem Cell Identity

Abstract

Pluripotent stem cells must reconcile rapid replication with a highly dynamic transcriptional program, creating an inherent susceptibility to transcription-replication conflicts (TRCs). We demonstrate that embryonic stem cells (ESCs) operate in a "resilient" replication mode, tolerating high genomic traffic through the constitutive upregulation of R-loop and TRC resolution pathways. Through a targeted functional screen, we identify the RNA helicase Aquarius (AQR) as an essential safeguard of this state. AQR depletion downregulates these resolution factors, collapsing this stress-resistant program and driving ESCs into unstable, heterogenous states, marked by increased transcriptional entropy and cell-to-cell noise. Mechanistically, we show that key identity-defining genes are preferentially located within R-loop and TRC prone regions, making them uniquely vulnerable to AQR depletion. Our findings establish AQR as a critical governor of transcriptional fidelity, demonstrating that genomic resilience is fundamental to maintaining pluripotent cell identity.