Self-renewal and pluripotency are two fundamental characteristics of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and are controlled by diverse regulatory factors, including pluripotent factors, epigenetic regulators and microRNAs (miRNAs). Although histone methyltransferases are key epigenetic regulators, whether and how a histone methyltransferase forms a network with miRNAs and the core pluripotent factor sy...

BACKGROUND Kruppel-like factor KLF4 is a transcription factor critical for the establishment of the barrier function of the skin. Its function in stem cell biology has been recently recognized. Previous studies have revealed that hair follicle stem cells contribute to cutaneous wound healing. However, expression of KLF4 in hair follicle stem cells and the importance of such expression in cutane...

BACKGROUND KLF4 is a zin-finger transcription factor that plays roles in differentiation, development, and proliferation. Recent studies show that KLF4 is involved in tumorigenesis and somatic cells reprogramming. Metastasis is the primary cause of death in patients with lung cancer, and its biological mechanisms are poorly understood. GOALS In this study, we aim to explore the expression pat...

A full-length mouse cDNA clone encoding KLF4 was initially isolated from a NIH3T3 cDNA library by reduced stringency screening with a DNA probe containing the zinc finger region of an immediate early gene product, Zif268 or Egr1. A distinct feature of the KLF4 gene is the highly GC-rich nature of the sequence near its 5'-end. Thus, the G+C content of the 1000 nt 5'-flanking region is 67% and th...

Spatial positioning of genes in the cell nucleus plays an important role in the regulation of genomic functions. Evidence for changes in gene positioning associated with transcriptional activity has been reported. However, our understanding of this phenomenon is still quite limited. We examined how pluripotency genes and hepatocyte-specific genes behave during the differentiation of mouse embry...

Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are vascular malformations located within the central nervous system often resulting in cerebral hemorrhage. Pharmacological treatment is needed, since current therapy is limited to neurosurgery. Familial CCM is caused by loss-of-function mutations in any of Ccm1, Ccm2, and Ccm3 genes. CCM cavernomas are lined by endothelial cells (ECs) undergoing endothe...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small non-coding RNAs that have a pivotal role in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression and their misregulation is common in different types of cancer. Although it has been shown that miR-7 plays an oncogenic role in different cellular contexts, the molecular mechanisms by which miR-7 promotes cell transformation are not well understood. Here w...

Tibetan pigs are native mammalian species on the Plateau that have evolved distinct physiological traits allow them to tolerate high-altitude hypoxic environments. However, genetic mechanism underlying this adaptation remains elusive. Here, based multitissue transcriptional data from and low-altitude Rongchang pigs, we performed a weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) identified key mod...

PURPOSE Krüppel-like factor 4 (Klf4) plays a crucial role in the development and maintenance of the mouse cornea. In the current study, wild-type (WT) and Klf4-conditional null (Klf4CN) corneal gene expression patterns were examined, to gain understanding of the molecular basis of the Klf4CN corneal phenotype. METHODS Expression of more than 22,000 genes in 10 WT and Klf4CN corneas was compar...

Purpose: IFITM3, an IFN-inducible gene, is overexpressed in human colorectal cancer. In this study, we sought to determine the clinical significance and underlying mechanisms of its dysregulated expression in human colon tumor specimens and murine models of this disease. Experimental Design: IFITM3 expression in a tissue microarray of tumor and matched normal colon tissue specimens and lymph no...