Octamer transcription factors are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

transcription factor In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding to a specific DNA sequence. The f ...

s which binds to the "ATTTGCAT"

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. T ...

. Their

DNA-binding domain A DNA-binding domain (DBD) is an independently folded protein domain that contains at least one structural motif that recognizes double- or single-stranded DNA. A DBD can recognize a specific DNA sequence (a recognition sequence) or have a gener ...

is a

POU domain POU (pronounced 'pow') is a family of proteins that have well-conserved homeodomains. Etymology The acronym POU is derived from the names of three transcription factors: * the Pituitary-specific Pit-1 * the Octamer transcription factor prote ...

. There are eight Octamer proteins in humans (Oct1–11),Oct-5 and Oct-10 are not found in humans, while Oct-3 and Oct-4 were identified as the same protein. which have been renamed according to the different classes of POU domain. Octamer-3/4, also known as

POU5F1 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. Oct-4 is a homeodomain transcription factor of the POU family. I ...

, is one of the Yamanaka factors, which are critical for the maintenance and self-renewal of

embryonic stem cells Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre- implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist ...

. On the other hand, Oct-1 and Oct-2 are widely expressed in adult tissues. Oct-7, 8 and 9, also known as "brain factors", are predominantly expressed in the

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all p ...

during

embryonic development An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sperm ...

. Oct-6 expression is confined to embryonic stem cells and the developing nervous system and skin, while Oct-11 is also involved in skin differentiation.

Human Oct proteins

Oct-1 POU domain, class 2, transcription factor 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''POU2F1'' gene. Interactions POU2F1 has been shown to interact with: * EPRS, * Glucocorticoid receptor, * Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, ...

- *

Oct-2 Oct-2 (octamer-binding protein 2) also known as POU domain, class 2, transcription factor 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the POU2F2 gene. Oct-2 is an octamer transcription factor which is a member of the POU family POU or pou may r ...

- * Oct-3/4 – * Oct-6 – * Oct-7 – * Oct-8 – * Oct-9 – * Oct-11 –

References

External links

* {{Transcription factors, g3 POU-domain proteins Protein families