OCT4

OCT4 is a mammalian POU transcription factor expressed by early embryo cells and germ cells. It belongs to the POU transcription factor family. The human OCT4 gene maps to chromosome 6 and has two isoforms with identical C-termini that include the characteristic POU-specific domain and the POU home domain. This transcription factor binds to the octamer motif (5'-ATTTGCAT-3'). OCT4 a nuclear protein forms a trimeric complex with SOX2 on DNA and controls the expression of a number of genes involved in embryonic development such as YES1, FGF4, UTF1 and ZFP206. The POU-specific domain of OCT4 mediates the interaction with PKM2 thus regulating the transcriptional activity positively. It is critical for early embryogenesis and for embryonic stem cell pluripotency. Expression of OCT4 is in a diffuse and slightly punctuate pattern. It is initially expressed in unfertilized oocytes and then in totipotent and pluripotent cells of the inner cell mass of pre-gastrulation embryos before becoming specific to germ-line cells. The OCT4 gene is expressed at low levels in such diverse adult tissues as heart, kidney, liver, spleen, and pancreatic islets. Highest levels found in specific cell layers of the cortex, the olfactory bulb, the hippocampus and the cerebellum. Specific functions of OCT4 have not been established. The expression of OCT4 in unfertilized oocytes and blastocysts is probably of greatest significance because of the role that OCT4 may be playing in early post fertilization events.

IMGENEX Corporation as well as ImgenexIndia has taken the initiative to develop antibodies against such novel proteins like OCT4 involved in modernized branches of immunology like stem cell biology to aid researchers to deduce their physiological and therapeutic applications. The quality and efficacy of these OCT4 antibodies make them unique in their own way and tend to be good research elements for various purposes.