Description
Octamer-Binding Protein 4 (Oct4) is a homeodomain transcription factor of the POU family and can be expressed in embryonic stem cells and embryonic carcinoma cells. Oct 4 is critically involved in the signaling pathway for maintaining self-renewal and pluripotency of embryonic stem cells. Oct4 binds to the octamer motif to form a trimeric complex with SOX2 on DNA and controls the expression of many genes involved in embryonic development, such as YES1, FGF4, UTF1, ZFP206. Oct4 can regulate SOX2 and Nanog to support stem cell potency and self-renewal. The transcriptional activity can be positively regulated by PKM2