Transcriptional Factor Oct-4, Nanog and Self-renewal of Embryonic Stem Cells

Embryonic stem cell ( ES cell ) self-renewal molecular mechanism is one of the highlight in its researching field. Besides several extrinsic signals such as LIF, BMP and Wnt which can maintain the undifferentiated stage of ES cells, Oct-4 and Nanog have been demonstrated the key factors which can support the self-renewal and pluripotency of ES cell. Oct-4 and Nanog express specificaly in totipotent embryonic stem cells, and work together with other key transcriptional factors such as Sox2 to form a regulatory network, controling a set of target genes which have important functions in ES cell pluripotency and embryonic development. This review intends to give an overview of these two important transcriptional factors focusing on their structure and function in the context of ES renewal and differentiation.