NaNog: A pluripotency homeobox (master) molecule

Abstract

One of the most intriguing aspects of cell biology is the state of pluripotency, where the cell is capable of self-renewal for as many times as deemed “necessary”, then at a specified time can differentiate into any type of cell. This fundamental process is required during organogenesis in foetal life and importantly during tissue repair in health and disease. Pluripotency is very tightly regulated, as any dysregulation can result in congenital defects, inability to repair damage, or cancer. Fuelled by the relatively recent interest in stem cell biology and tissue regeneration, the molecules implicated in regulating pluripotency have been the subject of extensive research. One of the important molecules involved in pluripotency, is NaNog, the subject of this article.

DDR1 regulates RUNX1-CBFβ to control breast stem cell differentiation

“…Pathway enrichment analysis tools showed that the overlapping differentially expressed genes upon DDR1i and RUNXi are under the regulatory influence of stem and differentiation-related transcription factors, including pluripotency inducing SOX2, OCT4, and Nanog (Allouba et al, 2015; Luo et al, 2013; Shi and Jin, 2010; Zhang and Cui, 2014). These three transcription factors, along with E2F1 (Guy et al, 1996), are recognized for their ability to repress differentiation, whereas other transcription factor hits known to regulate these genes, such as TP53, STAT3, EGR1, and GATA1, promote differentiation (Briegel et al, 1996; Guerquin et al, 2013; Lu et al, 2020b; Sivakumar et al, 2022).…”

Characterization of the porcine Nanog 5’-flanking region

“…Nanog has been reported to be a key transcription factor responsible for maintaining pluripotency [ 2 ]. Nanog is transcribed specifically in pluripotent cells in mouse pre-implantation embryos, ESCs, and embryonic germ cells [ 22 ], as well as monkey and human ESCs [ 23 ].…”

“…These unique properties make them exceptionally valuable for cell replacement therapies, drug discovery and regenerative medicine [ 1 ]. Nanog is a homeodomain-bearing protein that acts as a transcription factor [ 2 ] and involved in pluripotent cell-specific transcription that plays a crucial role in maintaining the undifferentiated state of early postimplantation embryos and ESCs [ 3 ]. Homeobox genes have been demonstrated to be important in patterning and lineage specification during early embryogenesis [ 4 ].…”