Nanog, Sox2, and Oct4 are key transcription factors critical for the pluripotency and self-renewal of embryonic stem (ES) cells. Their downregulations lead to differentiation, accompanied with changes in cell motility. Whether these factors impact cell motility directly, however, is not clear. Here we addressed this question by initially assessing their effect in non-stem cells. We found that t...

Blastocyst formation marks the segregation of the first two cell lineages in the mammalian preimplantation embryo: the inner cell mass (ICM) that will form the embryo proper and the trophectoderm (TE) that gives rise to the trophoblast lineage. Commitment to ICM lineage is attributed to the function of the two transcription factors, Oct4 (encoded by Pou5f1) and Nanog. However, a positive regula...

Embryonic stem cells (ESC) have been isolated from pregastrulation mammalian embryos. The maintenance of their pluripotency and ability to self-renew has been shown to be governed by the transcription factors Oct4 (Pou5f1) and Nanog. Oct4 appears to control cell-fate decisions of ESC in vitro and the choice between embryonic and trophectoderm cell fates in vivo. In non-mammalian vertebrates, th...

Embryonic stem (ES) cells offer insight into early developmental fate decisions, and their controlled differentiation may yield vast regenerative potential. The molecular determinants supporting ES cell self-renewal are incompletely understood. The homeodomain proteins Nanog and Oct4 are essential for mouse ES cell self-renewal. Using a high-throughput approach, we discovered DNaseI hypersensit...

A fundamental goal in biology is to understand the molecular basis of cell identity. Pluripotent embryonic stem (ES) cell identity is governed by a set of transcription factors centred on the triumvirate of Oct4, Sox2 and Nanog. These proteins often bind to closely localised genomic sites. Recent studies have identified additional transcriptional modulators that bind to chromatin near sites occ...

Nuclear transfer to eggs or oocytes provides a potential route for cell-replacement therapies because oocytes directly reprogram transplanted mammalian somatic-cell nuclei such that they have an embryo-like pattern of gene expression. This includes a large increase in the mRNA level of the stem-cell marker gene oct4. We have developed a novel procedure to identify new proteins that greatly incr...

Intrinsic regulators of the pluripotency of mouse ES (embryonic stem) cells include the homeodomain proteins Oct4 and the recently identified Nanog. When overexpressed, Nanog displays the unique attribute of robustly sustaining ES cell self-renewal in the absence of the otherwise requisite extracellular stimulation by LIF (leukaemia inhibitory factor) and BMP (bone morphogenetic protein). Here,...

Transcription factor Foxm1 plays a critical role during embryonic development and its expression is repressed during retinoic acid (RA)-induced differentiation of pluripotent P19 embryonal carcinoma cells at the early stage, correlated with downregulation of expression of pluripotency markers. To study whether Foxm1 participates in the maintenance of pluripotency of stem cells, we knock down Fo...

Defining the signaling mechanisms that regulate the fate of adult stem cells is an essential step toward their use in regenerative medicine. Platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) signaling plays a crucial role in specifying mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) commitment to mesenchymal lineages. Based on the hypothesis that selective inhibition of signaling pathways involved in differentiation...

Analyses of gene expression in single mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) cultured in serum and LIF revealed the presence of two distinct cell subpopulations with individual gene expression signatures. Comparisons with published data revealed that cells in the first subpopulation are phenotypically similar to cells isolated from the inner cell mass (ICM). In contrast, cells in the second subpopu...