Sox2 regulates the self-renewal of multiple types of stem cells. Recent studies suggest it also plays oncogenic roles in the formation of squamous carcinoma in several organs, including the esophagus where Sox2 is predominantly expressed in the basal progenitor cells of the stratified epithelium. Here, we use mouse genetic models to reveal a mechanism by which Sox2 cooperates with microenvironm...

The transcription factor SOX2 has many established roles in neural development but is generally considered to have limited activity in the adult brain. As part of a study of neuronal phenotypes in the adult rodent hypothalamus, we have now used immunohistochemical analysis to investigate the expression of SOX2 in the adult rat and mouse hypothalamus. Our analysis has revealed that SOX2 protein ...

Tracheobronchial submucosal glands (SMGs) are derived from one or more multipotent glandular stem cells that coalesce to form a placode in surface airway epithelium (SAE). Wnt/β-catenin-dependent induction of lymphoid enhancer factor (Lef-1) gene expression during placode formation is an early event required for SMG morphogenesis. We discovered that Sox2 expression is repressed as Lef-1 is indu...

The transcription factors OCT4 and SOX2 are required for generating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and for maintaining embryonic stem cells (ESCs). OCT4 and SOX2 associate and bind to DNA in different configurations depending on the arrangement of their individual DNA binding elements. Here we have investigated the role of the different OCT4-SOX2-DNA assemblies in regulating and inducin...

UNLABELLED The transcription factor sex determining region (Y SRY)-box 2 (SOX2) is known to play a crucial role in the maintenance of self renewal or pluripotency of undifferentiated embryonic and neuronal stem cells. An elevated expression of SOX2 has been correlated with poor prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We sought to investigate the mechanism(s) by which SOX2 modula...

The recent development of human genome studies has demonstrated the possibility of alteration of several genes as oncogenic driver mutations of lung squamous cell carcinoma (SQCC). FGFR1, PIK3CA and SOX2 genes have been recognized as candidate driver genes of SQCC. The aim of the present study was to evaluate FGFR1, PIK3CA and SOX2 protein expression in SQCC and determine whether the expression...

PURPOSE The transcription factor Sox2 plays important roles in both human and mouse retinal development. Although loss-of-function mutations in Sox2 have been studied in mice, gain-of-function experiments in the neural retina have been lacking. METHODS The detailed expression pattern of Sox2 in the developing mouse retina was examined by immunohistochemistry. Then, Sox2 was expressed in a ret...

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are thought to be the "root" of cancer. Although stemness-related factors ALDH1A1 and Sox2 have been used as markers to identify gastric CSCs, the expression pattern and significance of these factors in gastric cancer have not been sufficiently demonstrated. In this study, the expressions of ALDH1A1 and Sox2 were detected by immunohistochemistry in 122 gastric cancer sp...

Master regulators, such as Sox2, Oct4 and Nanog, control complex gene networks necessary for the self-renewal and pluripotency of embryonic stem cells (ESC). These master regulators associate with co-activators and co-repressors to precisely control their gene targets. Recent studies using proteomic analysis have identified a large, diverse group of co-activators and co-repressors that associat...

Sox2 is an important transcriptional regulator in embryonic and adult stem cells. Recently, Sox2 was identified as an oncogene in many endodermal cancers, including colon cancer. There is great interest in how Sox2 cooperates with other transcription factors to regulate stem cell renewal, differentiation, and reprogramming. However, we still lack a general understanding of Sox2 transcriptional ...