Activation of the pluripotency factor OCT4 in smooth muscle cells is atheroprotective. doi: 10.1038/nm.4109

ABSTRACT: The multiple claims about reactivation of the embryonic stem cell (ESC) pluripotency factor OCT4 in somatic cells are highly controversial due to the fact that there is no direct evidence that OCT4 has a functional role in cells other than ESCs. Herein we demonstrate that smooth muscle cell (SMC)-specific knockout of Oct4 within atherosclerotic mice resulted in increased lesion size and multiple changes consistent with decreased plaque stability. SMC-lineage tracing studies showed that lesions from SMC-specific conditional Oct4 KO mice had a reduced number of SMCs likely due to impaired SMC migration. RNA-seq analysis of lesion specimens showed that loss of Oct4 in SMCs was associated with marked activation of genes associated with inflammation and suppression of genes associated with cell

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

SUBMITTER: Gary Owens 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-75044 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress