Human haematopoietic stem cells express Oct4 pseudogenes and lack the ability to initiate Oct4 promoter-driven gene expression.

ABSTRACT: The transcription factor Oct4 is well defined as a key regulator of embryonic stem (ES) cell pluripotency. In recent years, the role of Oct4 has purportedly extended to the self renewal and maintenance of multipotency in adult stem cell (ASC) populations. This profile has arisen mainly from reports utilising reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based methodologies and has since come under scrutiny following the discovery that many developmental genes have multiple pseudogenes associated with them. Six known pseudogenes exist for Oct4, all of which exhibit very high sequence homology (three >97%), and for this reason the generation of artefacts may have contributed to false identification of Oct4 in somatic cell populations. While ASC lack a molecular blueprint of transc

SUBMITTER: Redshaw Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2853495 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature