Research progress of Oct-4 in cancer stem cells / 肿瘤研究与临床

ABSTRACT

Stem cell (SC) is a class of initial cells with potential self renewal and differentiation ability.Under certain conditions,it can proliferate and differentiate into various functional ceils.Nucleoprotein Oct-4,Nanog and Sox2 are three major transcription factors,which play central roles in maintaining the pluripotent characteristics and inhibiting SC differentiation.Cancer stem cell(CSC) theory supposed that there is also existing SC-CSC possessing potential self renewal and differentiation abilities in tumor tissues.It is the SC properties of CSC that result in tumor's invasive growth,metastasis and resistance to treatment.Therefore,looking for CSC and determining their markers become an important direction for cancer research.And the introduction of Oct-4,Nanog and Sox2 into CSC research field is undoubtedly the most exciting forefront.