title: Oct-4: the almighty POUripotent regulator?
abstract: Oct-4 plays an essential role as a central regulator of the undifferentiated state. Grinnell et al. demonstrate for the first time that Oct-4 by itself has the ability to reprogram committed somatic cells, inducing their dedifferentiation by reverting them to a more developmentally potent state. This study provides evidence that Oct-4 might be the master regulator of the pluripotent state in mammalian cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Buitrago
authors.forename: Dennis R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Roop
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D019070:Cell Lineage; D006801:Humans; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3 / Q000502:physiology*; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3