Gatekeeper of pluripotency: a common Oct4 transcriptional network operates in mouse eggs and embryonic stem cells.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Oct4 is a key factor of an expanded transcriptional network (Oct4-TN) that governs pluripotency and self-renewal in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and in the inner cell mass from which ESCs are derived. A pending question is whether the establishment of the Oct4-TN initiates during oogenesis or after fertilisation. To this regard, recent evidence has shown that Oct4 controls a poorly known Oct4-TN central to the acquisition of the mouse egg developmental competence. The aim of this study was to investigate the identity and extension of this maternal Oct4-TN, as much as whether its presence is circumscribed to the egg or maintained beyond fertilisation.

Results

By comparing the genome-wide transcriptional profile of developmentally competent eggs that express the OCT4

SUBMITTER: Zuccotti M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3154874 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature