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Stem Cell Genetics and Genomics |
1 Cell Factory, Center for Transfusion Medicine, Cellular Therapy and Cryobiology, Fondazione Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Mangiagalli e Regina Elena, Milan, Italy
2 Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Milan, Italy
3 Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Gene Expression, Fondazione Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Mangiagalli e Regina Elena, Milan, Italy
4 Laboratory of Vascular Biology and Gene Therapy, Centro Cardiologico Monzino IRCCS, Milan, Italy
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: cbbank{at}policlinico.mi.it.
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Abstract |
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The Oct-4 transcription factor, a member of the POU family that is also known as Oct-3 and Oct3/4, is expressed in totipotent embryonic stem cells (ES) and germ cells and it has a unique role in development and in the determination of pluripotency. ES may have their post-natal counterpart in the adult stem cells, recently described in various mammalian tissues and Oct-4 expression in putative stem cells purified from adult tissues has been considered a real marker of stemness. In this context, normal mature adult cells would not be expected to show Oct-4 expression. On the contrary, we demonstrated using RT-PCR (total RNA - Poly A+), Real Time-PCR, immunoprecipation and Western blotting, Band Shift and immunofluorescence that human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, genetically stable and mainly terminally differentiated cells with well-defined functions and a limited lifespan, express Oct-4. These observations raise the questions as to whether the role of Oct-4 as a marker of pluripotency should be challenged. Our findings suggest that the presence of Oct-4 is not sufficient to define a cell as pluripotent, and that additional measures should be used to avoid misleading results in the case of an embryonic-specific gene with a large number of pseudogenes that may contribute to false identification of Oct-4 in adult stem cells. These unexpected findings may provide new insights into the role of Oct-4 in fully differentiated cells.
Key Words. Oct-4, human peripheral cells, stem cell marker
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