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This Sandbox is Reserved from 06/12/2018, through 30/06/2019 for use in the course "Structural Biology" taught by Bruno Kieffer at the University of Strasbourg, ESBS. This reservation includes Sandbox Reserved 1480 through Sandbox Reserved 1543.

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OCT-4 or POU5F1

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IntroductionIntroduction

Oct-4 for Octamer –binding transcription factor 4, also known as POU5F1 (POU domain, class 5, transcription factor 1) is a 352 amino acid protein encoded by the POU5F1 gene. It is the earliest expressed gene known, and the gene is developmentally regulated during mammalian embryogenesis. The map position of oct 4 on mouse chromosome 17 is between Q and T region in the Major histocompatibility. The Oct-4 POU transcription factor is expressed in mouse totipotent embryonic stem and germ cells. Pou ( pronounced “pow”) transcription factor ( Pou stands for Pit-1, Oct, Unc 86) are DNA –binding proteins that are able to activate the transcription of genes bearing cis acting elements containing an octmer motif ATGCAAAT. Pou factors possess the capability to form homo and heterodimers that can bind to octamer motif variants. The POU domain is a bipartite domain present in all Pou proteins. It consists of two subdomains, called the POU-specific and the POU homeodomain, connected by a flexible linker, variable in length. Flexibility of the linker enables the two subdomains to contact the DNA-binding site independently of each other.

spinqualitylabelsall models Fig1: General structure of Oct-4 Show:Asymmetric Unit Biological Assembly Drag the structure with the mouse to rotate   Export Animated Image

Oct-4 structureOct-4 structure

There are two diffent domains in the Oct-4 sequence : the Pou-specific domain (POUs) located on the N-terminal subunit and the homeodomain located in the C-terminal subunit of the sequence. File:Structure of Oct-4.jpg

The first figure on the left shows an aligment between different transcription factors. We can see that there are few conserved sites between each transcription factors. We can also see the organization of the Oct-4 structure : a POUs linked to an POUh thanks to a linker which is actuaaly an alpha helix.

Pou-specific domainPou-specific domain

The is located on the N-terminal site of the Oct-4 sequence and precisely from the 131th amino acid to the 205th. The POU-specific domain is able to bind autonomously the DNA with the binding consensus : [gAATAT(G/T)CA]. This is the thanks to a specific motif, the helix-turn-helix[1]. At its name suggests, this pattern is composed by two α helix linked by an amino acids sequence which corresponds to the turn. The second helix is the most involved in the DNA binding. Indeed, this helix is able to carry out hydrogen bonds and Van der Waalts interactions with bases in the major groove of DNA. The first helix allows to stabilize the complex DNA-protein. In the Pou specific domain of the transcription factor Oct-4, there are actually 2 HTH motif linked by another alpha helix.The HTH motif is responsible of the DNA binding thanks to the first amino acid located in every helix in HTH. Indeed, this amino acid is a which is able to interact with the backbone phosphate and the adenine base in the DNA binding site. Thanks to bioinformatics tools, alignments were carrying out. We discover that there is a very good alignment between the Oct-4 POU domain and theLambda phage POU domain.

HomeodomainHomeodomain

The homeodomain is a very conserved 60 amino acid helix-turn helix DNA-binding domain. Its DNA sequence is called the “homeobox”, and the genes are known as “Hox gene”. The DNA recognition helix (alpha 3) binds the DNA major groove while the amino-terminal tail binds the DNA minor groove. We can draw a parallel with oct 1and oct2 about the Homeodomain and admit that the ninth residue of the DNA-recognition helix is a cysteine that might have been conserved at this position to confer DNA binding specificity , and promote more relaxed DNA sequence recognition by POU domains. The recognition helix and the inter-helix loops are rich in arginine and lysine residues, which form hydrogen bonds to the DNA backbone.

ApplicationsApplications

In vivoIn vivo

Oct-4 is able to create a complex with Sox-2 to express genes involved in the embryonic development such as YES1.Oct-4 is also involved in the creation of intestinal and skin cancer. Indeed, the overexpression of Oct-4 provokes the upregulation of B-catenin transcription which inhibit the cellular differentiation.

In vitroIn vitro

Oct-4,Sox2, c-Myc and Klf4 are the four factors involved in the cell reprogamming. Indeed, those four factors are also named “Yamanaka factors” because they were used in the Yamanaka’s studies to reprogram mature cells in inducted pluripotent stem cells (iPS[2]). When those Yamanaka factors are in a mature cell, they can induce the expression of genes involved in the reprogramation of cells in an embryonic-state: cells which possess the same morphology and the same growth properties than embryonic stem cells. The unique structure of the linker domain between the POU-specific domain and the homeobox gives Oct-4 a protein very important for this study. Indeed, the others transcription factors are recruited and a complex is created with the linker domain.

ReferencesReferences

POU-domain transcription factors: pou-er-ful developmental regulators. M G Rosenfeld Genes Dev. 1991 5: 897-907