Biallelic expression of nanog protein in mouse embryonic stem cells.

摘要

Transcription factors (TFs) and their networks are central effectors controlling pluripotency (Young, 2011). Numerous involved TFs have been identified, but a subset of core pluripotency TFs regulates the majority of others. One such factor, Nanog, is expressed in pluripotent ceils, is required for self-renewal of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in vitro, is able to force ESC self-renewal upon overex-pression in the absence of LiF, and is necessary for the normal development of early mouse embryos (reviewed in Young, 2011). Several studies have shown that Nanog expression is heterogeneous in populations of pluripotent ESCs, which can express high or low Nanog levels (reviewed in Young, 2011), making Nanog regulation an interesting model for analyzing the dynamic regulation of fluctuating but stable TF expression states. Recently, allele-specific expression of Nanog-as assessed by a combination of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) to detect Nanog mFSNA and protein-based assays involving fusion of destabilized fluorescent proteins connected to Nanog via a self-cleavable peptide-has been described as a potential mechanism for regulation of Nanog expression and, consequently, pluripotency (Miyanari and Torres-Padilla, 2012).