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Oct‐4: more than just a POUerful marker of the mammalian germline?
Author(s) -
BREHM ALEXANDER,
OVITT CATHERINE E.,
SCHÖLER HANS R.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
apmis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0903-4641
DOI - 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1998.tb01326.x
Subject(s) - germline , totipotent , biology , oocyte , embryo , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , somatic cell , transcription factor , stem cell , embryonic stem cell , gene
Mammals lack visible cytoplasmic components in the oocyte that could account for ‘germline determinants’ as identified in various non‐mammalian species. Actually, mammals might not define the germline autonomously by localized ‘germline determinants’ but conditionally depending on the position of cells within the embryo. The Oct‐4 gene encodes a transcription factor that is specifically expressed in the toti‐ and pluripotential stem cells of the mouse embryo and so far has only been found in mammalian species. Oct‐4 ‐expressing embryonal cells retain the capacity to differentiate along multiple lineages and they have been suggested to be part of a ‘totipotent germline cycle’ that links one generation to the next.