Nanog (transcription factor)

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Nanog homeobox
Identifiers
Symbol(s)	NANOG
Entrez	79923
OMIM	607937
RefSeq	NM_024865
UniProt	Q9H9S0
Other data
Locus	Chr. 12 p13.31

Nanog (pron. nanOg) is a transcription factor critically involved with self-renewal of undifferentiated embryonic stem cells.

It was discovered in 2003 and named after the mythological Celtic land of the ever young, Tír na nÓg.

Overexpression of Nanog in mouse embryonic stem cells causes them to self-renew in the absence of Leukemia inhibitory factor. In the absence of Nanog, mouse embryonic stem cells differentiate into visceral/parietal endoderm (Chambers et al, 2003 and Mitsui et al, 2003)

It has been shown that the tumour suppressor p53 binds to the promoter of NANOG and suppresses its expression after DNA damage in mouse embryonic stem cells. p53 can thus induce differentiation of embronic stem cells into other cell types which undergo efficient p53-dependent cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis. (Lin et al, 2005)

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

New York Times "He has now applied the technique to human cells, starting with embryonic stem cells. The cells, he and colleagues say in the current issue of Cell, are controlled by a triumvirate of three transcription factors, known as oct4, sox2 and nanog.
MIT "The transcription factors Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog have essential roles in early development and are required for the propagation of undifferentiated embryonic stem (ES) cells in culture. To gain insights into transcriptional regulation of human ES cells, we have, in collaboration with the Young lab, identified Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog target genes using genome-scale location analysis. We found, surprisingly, that Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog co-occupy a substantial portion of their target genes. These target genes frequently encode transcription factors, many of which are developmentally important homeodomain proteins. Our data also show that Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog collaborate to form regulatory circuitry in ES cells consisting of autoregulatory and feedforward loops."
Young Lab- Core Transcriptional Regulatory Circuitry in Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Chambers I, Colby D, Robertson M, Nichols J, Lee S, Tweedie S and Smith A. Functional expression cloning of Nanog, a pluripotency sustaining factor in embryonic stem cells. Cell May 30;113(5):643-55 (2003).
Mitsui K, Tokuzawa Y, Itoh H, Segawa K, Murakami M, Takahashi K, Maruyama M, Maeda M and Yamanaka S. The homeoprotein Nanog is required for maintenance of pluripotency in mouse epiblast and ES cells.Cell May 30;113(5):631-42 (2003)
Lin TX, Chao C, Saito S, et al. P53 induces differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells by suppressing Nanog expression. NATURE CELL BIOLOGY 7 (2): 165-U80 FEB 2005.