Laboratory of Cancer and Developmental Biology, National
Cancer Institute - ICRDC, Frederick, Maryland
21702, USA. stewartc@nciferf.gov
A study by Niwa et al. shows that changes in the levels of
the transcription factor Oct-4 regulate the differentiation of embryonic stem
cells along three different pathways. These observations suggest a possible
mechanism by which Oct-4 determines the formation of the mouse pre-implantation
embryo.
