Oct-4

POU5F1
Available structures PDB Ortholog search: PDBe RCSB List of PDB id codes 1OCP, 3L1P
Identifiers
Aliases	POU5F1, OCT3, OCT4, OTF-3, OTF3, OTF4, Oct-3, Oct-4, POU class 5 homeobox 1, Oct3/4
External IDs	OMIM: 164177; MGI: 101893; HomoloGene: 8422; GeneCards: POU5F1; OMA:POU5F1 - orthologs
Gene location (Human) Chr. Chromosome 6 (human)[1] Band 6p21.33 Start 31,164,337 bp[1] End 31,180,731 bp[1]
Gene location (Mouse) Chr. Chromosome 17 (mouse)[2] Band 17 B1|17 18.69 cM Start 35,816,915 bp[2] End 35,821,669 bp[2]
RNA expression pattern Bgee Human Mouse (ortholog) Top expressed in gonad right uterine tube endometrium human kidney body of pancreas body of stomach mucosa of transverse colon testicle left uterine tube fundus Top expressed in blastocyst epiblast embryo morula morula primordial germ cell zygote inner cell mass primitive streak ooblast More reference expression data BioGPS More reference expression data
Gene ontology Molecular function DNA binding sequence-specific DNA binding miRNA binding DNA-binding transcription factor activity transcription factor binding transcription cis-regulatory region binding protein binding DNA-binding transcription repressor activity, RNA polymerase II-specific DNA-binding transcription factor activity, RNA polymerase II-specific ubiquitin protein ligase binding RNA binding Cellular component cytoplasm cytosol transcription regulator complex nucleoplasm nucleus mitochondrion Biological process regulation of transcription, DNA-templated somatic stem cell population maintenance negative regulation of gene silencing by miRNA cell fate commitment involved in formation of primary germ layer endodermal cell fate specification anatomical structure morphogenesis mRNA transcription by RNA polymerase II regulation of asymmetric cell division negative regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II transcription by RNA polymerase II transcription, DNA-templated regulation of DNA methylation-dependent heterochromatin assembly multicellular organism development cardiac cell fate determination response to wounding BMP signaling pathway involved in heart induction regulation of gene expression regulation of heart induction by regulation of canonical Wnt signaling pathway blastocyst development positive regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II positive regulation of SMAD protein signal transduction Sources:Amigo / QuickGO
Orthologs Species Human Mouse Entrez 5460 18999 Ensembl ENSG00000230336 ENSG00000206454 ENSG00000204531 ENSG00000237582 ENSG00000229094 ENSG00000233911 ENSG00000235068 ENSMUSG00000024406 UniProt Q01860 P20263 RefSeq (mRNA) NM_203289 NM_001173531 NM_001285986 NM_001285987 NM_002701 NM_001252452 NM_013633 RefSeq (protein) NP_001167002 NP_001272915 NP_001272916 NP_002692 NP_976034 NP_001272915.1 NP_001239381 NP_038661 Location (UCSC) Chr 6: 31.16 – 31.18 Mb Chr 17: 35.82 – 35.82 Mb PubMed search [3] [4]
Wikidata
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Oct-4 (octamer-binding transcription factor 4), also known as POU5F1 (POU domain, class 5, transcription factor 1), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the POU5F1 gene.^[5] Oct-4 is a homeodomain transcription factor of the POU family. It is critically involved in the self-renewal of undifferentiated embryonic stem cells.^[6] As such, it is frequently used as a marker for undifferentiated cells. Oct-4 expression must be closely regulated; too much or too little will cause differentiation of the cells.^[7]

Octamer-binding transcription factor 4, OCT-4, is a transcription factor protein that is encoded by the POU5F1 gene and is part of the POU (Pit-Oct-Unc) family.^[8] OCT-4 consists of an octamer motif, a particular DNA sequence of AGTCAAAT that binds to their target genes and activates or deactivates certain expressions. These gene expressions then lead to phenotypic changes in stem cell differentiation during the development of a mammalian embryo.^[9] It plays a vital role in determining the fates of both inner mass cells and embryonic stem cells and has the ability to maintain pluripotency throughout embryonic development.^[10] Recently, it has been noted that OCT-4 not only maintains pluripotency in embryonic cells but also has the ability to regulate cancer cell proliferation and can be found in various cancers such as pancreatic, lung, liver and testicular germ cell tumors in adult germ cells.^[11] Another defect this gene can have is dysplastic growth in epithelial tissues which are caused by a lack of OCT-4 within the epithelial cells.^[12]