Transcription factor SOX15 regulates stem cell pluripotency and promotes neural fate during differentiation by activating the neurogenic gene Hes5.

ABSTRACT: SOX2 and SOX15 are Sox family transcription factors enriched in embryonic stem cells (ESCs). The role of SOX2 in activating gene expression programs essential for stem cell self-renewal and acquisition of pluripotency during somatic cell reprogramming is well-documented. However, the contribution of SOX15 to these processes is unclear and often presumed redundant with SOX2 largely because overexpression of SOX15 can partially restore self-renewal in SOX2-deficient ESCs. Here, we show that SOX15 contributes to stem cell maintenance by cooperating with ESC-enriched transcriptional coactivators to ensure optimal expression of pluripotency-associated genes. We demonstrate that SOX15 depletion compromises reprogramming of fibroblasts to pluripotency which cannot be compensated by SOX2. Ectopic

SUBMITTER: Choi EB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10023989 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature