Homeobox protein NANOG

Nanog (also NANOG ) is a key transcription factor (TF), which is involved in the control of self-renewal of stem cells.

The name derives from Tír na nÓg, the from the "land of eternal youth " in an Irish legend. The TF -encoding gene is located on chromosome 12 in humans ( Location: 12p13.31 ).

The human Nanog is a protein having 305 amino acids and a homeodomain motif conserved which facilitates the binding of RNA polymerase to the DNA during Genüberschreibung ( transcription). The Nanog gene is turned on in embryonic stem cells and is adjacent to Oct-4, c- myc, Sox -2 and lin -28 one of the known key factors for the maintenance of cellular pluripotency ( "All - Can "). A stem cell can therefore differentiate into virtually any cell in the human body.

Overexpression of Nanog causes a self-renewal in mouse embryonic stem cells. In the absence of Nanog protein, mouse stem cells differentiate into endodermal cells. Overexpression of Nanog in human embryonic stem cells allows the maintenance of pluripotency even after several passages ( cell division phases over several cultivation steps away ). The elimination of the Nanog gene causes the differentiation of the affected cell. Thus, the role of Nanog protein in self-renewal in stem cells is demonstrated. Yamanaka et al. showed that the induction of stem cells from fibroblasts with other factors such as Oct-4 is also possible without Nanog. Therefore, Nanog for the biotechnological production of stem cells seems to be dispensable.

Protein isoform Human Genome Organisation RNA-Polymerase Sox-2 lin-28
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