Obox4 regulates the expression of histone family genes and promotes differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells

Kim, Hae-Mi; Ahn, Hee-Jin; Lee, Hyun-Seo; Lee, Kyung-Ah; Lee, Su-Man; Kim, Hwan-Hee; Kim, Kwang-Soo; Park, Kyung-Soon

doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2009.12.005

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Volume 584, Issue 3 , Pages 605-611, 5 February 2010

Obox4 regulates the expression of histone family genes and promotes differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells

Edited by Ned Mantei

Hae-Mi Kim
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, CHA stem cell institute, CHA University, 606-16 Yeoksam 1-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Hee-Jin Ahn
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, CHA stem cell institute, CHA University, 606-16 Yeoksam 1-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Hyun-Seo Lee
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, CHA stem cell institute, CHA University, 606-16 Yeoksam 1-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Kyung-Ah Lee
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, CHA stem cell institute, CHA University, 606-16 Yeoksam 1-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Su-Man Lee
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, CHA stem cell institute, CHA University, 606-16 Yeoksam 1-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Hwan-Hee Kim
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, CHA stem cell institute, CHA University, 606-16 Yeoksam 1-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Kwang-Soo Kim
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, CHA stem cell institute, CHA University, 606-16 Yeoksam 1-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, McLean Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, USA
Kyung-Soon Park
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, CHA stem cell institute, CHA University, 606-16 Yeoksam 1-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Corresponding author. Address: CHA stem cell institute, 606-16 Yeoksam1-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-081, Republic of Korea. Fax: +82 2 538 4102.

Received 28 August 2009; received in revised form 2 December 2009; accepted 3 December 2009. published online 08 December 2009.

Abstract

Obox genes are preferentially expressed in the ovary, testis and oocyte, and play important roles in many developmental processes. In this study, we report that Obox4 and Obox6 are expressed in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) and that Obox4 regulates histone family gene expression in mESCs. Obox4 protein expressing mESCs formed colonies with a flattened and irregular morphology, and exhibited decreased expression levels of self-renewal related proteins, such as Oct4 and Sox2, as well as reduced alkaline phosphatase activity. The results of microarray analysis and siRNA mediated knockdown experiments suggest that Obox4 is an upstream regulator of the histone gene family.

Keywords: Mouse embryonic stem cell, Embryoid body, Histone family gene, Chromatin structure, Obox4, Obox6