Department of Regenerative Medicine, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, Spain.
Dev Dyn. 2010 Feb;239(2):672-9. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.22198.
Oct4 is a crucial transcription factor for controlling pluripotency in embryonic stem cells and the epiblast of mouse embryos. We have characterized the expression pattern of medaka (Oryzias latipes) Ol-Oct4 during embryonic development and in the adult gonads. Genomic analysis showed that Ol-Oct4 is the ortholog of zebrafish spg/pou2. However, their expression patterns are not the same, suggesting that Oct4 may play different roles in zebrafish and medaka. Using specific antibodies for the Ol-Oct4 protein, we showed that Ol-Oct4 is also expressed in primordial germ cells, in the spermatogonia (male germ stem cells), and during different stages of oocyte development. These results suggest that Ol-Oct4 plays a post-embryonic role in the maturing gonads and gametes. The Ol-Oct4 mRNA and protein expression patterns are similar to those of mammalian Oct4 and introduce medaka fish as a valid model for the functional and evolutionary study of pluripotency genes in vivo.
Oct4 是胚胎干细胞和小鼠胚胎外胚层中控制多能性的关键转录因子。我们已经描述了牙鲆（Oryzias latipes）Ol-Oct4 在胚胎发育过程中和成年性腺中的表达模式。基因组分析表明，Ol-Oct4 是斑马鱼 spg/pou2 的同源物。然而，它们的表达模式并不相同，这表明 Oct4 在斑马鱼和牙鲆中可能发挥不同的作用。使用针对 Ol-Oct4 蛋白的特异性抗体，我们表明 Ol-Oct4 也在原始生殖细胞、精原细胞（雄性生殖干细胞）和卵母细胞发育的不同阶段表达。这些结果表明，Ol-Oct4 在成熟性腺和配子中发挥着胚胎后的作用。Ol-Oct4 mRNA 和蛋白表达模式与哺乳动物 Oct4 相似，将牙鲆鱼类作为研究多能性基因在体内的功能和进化的有效模型。
