title: Exogenous Oct-4 inhibits lens transdifferentiation in the newt Notophthalmus viridescens.
abstract: From the cocktail of four factors that were able to induce pluripotent stem cells from differentiated cells, Oct-4, c-Myc, Sox-2 and Klf4, only Oct-4 was not expressed during regeneration in newts. To explore the possible action of this stemness factor we developed an assay where we introduced exogenous Oct-4 protein to an in vitro system for lens regeneration in newts. We found that exogenous Oct-4 inhibits differentiation of iris pigmented epithelial cells into lens cells and also regulates Sox-2 and Pax-6, both important players during lens development. Thus, presence of Oct-4 hinders transdifferentiation of iris cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, United States of America.
authors.forename: Rital B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Bhavsar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, United States of America.
authors.forename: Panagiotis A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Tsonis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D054338:Cell Transdifferentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000071841:PAX6 Transcription Factor; D051761:Paired Box Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D012038:Regeneration / Q000235:genetics; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012455:Salamandridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D005136:Eye Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3; D000071841:PAX6 Transcription Factor; D051761:Paired Box Transcription Factors; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors