Sox2

By Jennifer Jones, M.S.

By Jamshed Arslan, Pharm D, PhD

By Jamshed Arslan, Pharm D, PhD

By Jennifer Sokolowski, MD, PhD.

Discovery of the Key to Pluripotency

By Jamshed Arslan Pharm.D.

Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) are evolutionarily conserved zinc finger transcription factors that play a role in cell differentiation, proliferation, and pluripotency.

The SOX gene family encodes a group of highly conserved transcription factors defined by the presence of a conserved high motility group (HMG) DNA-binding domain. They are involved in embryonic development regulation and cell fate determination. All SOX proteins have a single HMG box and bind linear DNA in a sequence-specific manner, resulting in the bending of DNA through large angles. This bending opens the DNA helix for some distance, which may affect the binding and interactions of other transcription factors.

SOX2 is a transcription factor that is expressed by self-renewing and multipotent stem cells of the embryonic neuroepithelium. Sox-2 was found to be expressed by dividing neural progenitor cells. Constitutive expression of SOX2 has also been shown to inhibit neuronal differentiation and results in the maintenance of progenitor characteristics.

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, an early-stage embryo. ES cells are distinguished from other cells due to their pluripotency, which is the ability to differentiate into any different type of cell in the body, and also their capability of propagating indefinitely. These two factors make embryonic stem cells valuable tools in the scientific community, especially in regenerative medicine.