June Newsletter: Posttranslational Regulation of Key Transcription Factors in Pluripotent Stem Cells

Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), characterized by their unlimited self-renewal and differentiation potential, have garnered special attention as therapeutics because of their capacity to differentiate into any cells of the respective adult organism¹.  There are two general types of PSCs: 1. embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and 2. induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). By definition, PSCs exist in a pluripotent state until differentiation into specialized cells. To maintain stem cells as pluripotent, select transcription factors activate pluripotency-promoting genes and concomitantly suppress differentiation-promoting genes. In turn, the expression level and transactivation ability of these transcription factors are regulated by post-translational modifications (PTMs)^2,3. Three key pluripotent transcription factors are Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog³. Their regulation of transcription is complex with each transcription factor able to function independently of the other while also capable of  auto-inhibition (e.g., Oct4)⁴ or forming a heterodimer whereby one factor is regulated by the complex (e.g., Nanog activity is strictly regulated by the Oct4/Sox2 heterodimer)^5,6. Understanding the precise regulation of the stability (expression level) and transcriptional activity (DNA-binding affinity) of Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog by PTMs is essential in the study of stem cell homeostasis⁷.


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Also included in this newsletter:

• Signal Seeker™ Kits, PTM Antibodies, Beads, Spirochrome™ Live Cell Imaging Probes

• Related Publications