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New type of POU domain in germ line-specific protein Oct-4

Nature volume 344, pages 435–439 (1990)Cite this article

Abstract

MEMBERS of a family of murine octamer-binding proteins inter-act specifically with the octamer motif, a transcription regulatory element found in the promoter and enhancer regions of many genes1. Oct-4 is a maternally expressed protein that is also present in the pre-implantation mouse embryo1,2. Although many regula-tory proteins are expressed in post-implantation embryos3, tran-scription factors regulating pre-implantation processes have remained elusive. The Oct-4 gene is therefore a prime candidate for an early developmental control gene. Here we report the complementary DNA cloning of the mouse Oct-4 gene, and the characterization of the encoded protein(s) by sequential in vitro transcription, translation, DNA-binding and protease-clipping analysis. Deletion analysis shows that the DNA-binding activity is mediated by a POU domain encoded in an open reading frame corresponding to a 324-amino-acid protein4–13. Sequence com-parison with known POU domains reveals that Oct-4 is a novel member of the POU-family.

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Author notes

  1. Siegfried Ruppert: Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, D-6900 Heidelberg, FRG

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Max-Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry, D-3400, Göttingen, FRG

    Hans R. Schöler, Siegfried Ruppert, Noriaki Suzuki, Kamal Chowdhury & Peter Gruss

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  1. Hans R. Schöler
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  2. Siegfried Ruppert
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  3. Noriaki Suzuki
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  4. Kamal Chowdhury
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  5. Peter Gruss
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Schöler, H., Ruppert, S., Suzuki, N. et al. New type of POU domain in germ line-specific protein Oct-4. Nature 344, 435–439 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/344435a0

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