Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center, Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Birth Defects Res. 2022 Oct 1;114(16):983-1002. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.2007. Epub 2022 Apr 1.
During embryonic development, cells gradually restrict their developmental potential as they exit pluripotency and differentiate into various cell types. The POU transcription factor Oct4 (encoded by Pou5f1) lies at the center of the pluripotency machinery that regulates stemness and differentiation in stem cells, and is required for reprogramming of somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Several studies have revealed that Oct4 and other stemness genes are also expressed in multipotent cell populations such as neural crest cells (NCCs), and are required to expand the NCC developmental potential. Transcriptional regulation of Oct4 has been studied extensively in stem cells during early embryonic development and reprogramming, but not in NCCs. Here, we review how Oct4 is regulated in pluripotent stem cells, and address some of the gaps in knowledge about regulation of the pluripotency network in NCCs.
在胚胎发育过程中，细胞逐渐限制其发育潜能，退出多能性并分化为各种细胞类型。POU 转录因子 Oct4（由 Pou5f1 编码）位于调节干细胞干性和分化的多能性机制的中心，对于体细胞重编程为诱导多能干细胞（iPSCs）是必需的。几项研究表明，Oct4 和其他干性基因也在多能细胞群体中表达，如神经嵴细胞（NCCs），并且需要扩大 NCC 的发育潜能。在早期胚胎发育和重编程过程中，对干细胞中的 Oct4 转录调控进行了广泛研究，但在 NCC 中则没有。在这里，我们回顾了 Oct4 在多能干细胞中的调控方式，并探讨了 NCC 中多能性网络调控的一些知识空白。
