Vol.26 No.5（2004 October）：445-449

Regulation of Downstream Target Genes of Transcription Factor Oct-4 and Its Relationship with Toti/pluripotency of Embryonic Development

Yan-Mei Chen, Zhen Yao*

（Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China）

Abstract: As a transcription factor related to toti/pluripotency of embryonic development, Oct-4 activates or represses different target genes via diverse modulation mechanism, thereby plays important roles in regulation and maintenance of cell toti/pluripotent and undifferentiated state. Among the known target genes regulated by Oct-4, there are not only some important transcription factors, for example Rex-1, but also some genes participate in important cellular activities such as Fgf-4. So researches on regulation of downstream target genes of Oct-4 will help us to find out it's role in differentiation and development, and provide new insights into the understanding of toti/pluripotency and it's regulatory net in development.

Key words: Oct-4; target gene; toti/pluripotency

*Corresponding author. Tel: 86-21-54921367, Fax: 86-21-54921366, E-mail: zhyao@sibs.ac.cn