Oct-4 expression in human endometrium

Abstract

The transcription factor Oct-4 is crucial for the maintenance of cell pluripotency and is known to be expressed in embryonic stem cells, germ cells and whole embryos at various stages of development. Oct-4 regulates cell fate in a dose-dependent manner and plays a key role in germ-cell tumours. In the past, several stem-cell markers have been detected, and their role in the pathogenesis of diseases has been discussed frequently. Thus, we investigated the expression of Oct-4 comparing its occurrence in endometrium of healthy and diseased women using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and RT-PCR. IHC demonstrated Oct-4 expression in 25 of 60 sections (42%), respectively in 11 out of 25 patients (44%). Oct-4 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR in all tested samples (9 of 9) of endometrium, although the levels of expression varied. To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating Oct-4 expression in human endometrium.

OCT‐4, an embryonic stem cell marker, is highly expressed in bladder cancer

“…Accordingly, using IHC analysis of the whole tissue sections, recently, several groups have reported the expression of OCT-4 protein in several somatic tissues. 21,25 In conclusion, our data is the first report on the expression of the ES cell marker, OCT-4, in bladder cancer, and would add more weight to the findings that candidate OCT-4 as a multifunctional factor involving in major biological processes such as embryonic development, control of differentiation and stem cellbased carcinogenesis. More specifically, OCT-4 can potentially be regarded as a new molecular marker of bladder tumors, in which its expression might indicate the existence of stem-like cancer cells in these tumors.…”

“…breast, pancreas and liver stem cells) and Matthai et al reported OCT-4 expression in normal human endometrium. 25 The observed expression of OCT-4 in normal bladder tissues might reflect the presence of rare normal bladder stem cells in these samples. For that reason, we expect that evaluating the expression of OCT-4 in exfoliated cells of urine samples will potentially decrease the presence of normal bladder stem cells in the sample and increase the specificity of OCT-4 as a molecular marker for bladder cancer.…”

Expression Pattern of Stemness-Related Genes in Human Endometrial and Endometriotic Tissues

“…Recently, it has been discovered that rare cells in the endometrial stroma of about 44% of women are positive for OCT4 (also known as OCT3/4,OCT3 and POU5f1) (38), a protein member of the POU transcription factor family. OCT4 is expressed in pluripotent cells, and its downregulation is associated with loss of pluripotency.…”

<b>Células-tronco localizadas na cinta placentária de carnívoros domésticos (<i>Canis familiaris</i> e <i>Felis domesticus</i>)</b>

“…Pesquisas demonstram que Oct4 também pode ser encontrado no endométrio humano (MATTHAI et al, 2006), dando apoio à hipótese de regeneração endometrial por células-tronco locais no tecido endometrial. Uma teoria confirmada pela presença de células epiteliais e do estroma clonogénicas endométrio humano em agir como células estaminais putativas.…”

“…Sabe-se que o fator de transcrição Oct4 é crucial para manutenção da pluripotência e é expresso por células estaminais embrionárias, células germinativas e em embriões em várias fases de desenvolvimento (TAI et al, 2005). Em 2005, a expressão de Oct4, foi demonstrada pela primeira vez em tecido endométrio humano, mas os tipos de células não foram determinados (MATTHAI et al, 2006).…”