Description :
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Sox2, also known as sex determining region Y (SRY)-box 2, belongs to a diverse family of structurally-related transcription factors whose primary structure contains a 79-residue DNA-binding domain, called high mobility group (HMG) box. It plays an essential role in maintaining the pluripotency of embryonic stem cells (ESC) and determination of cell fate. Microarray analysis showed that Sox2 regulates the expression of multiple genes involved in embryonic development including FGF-4, YES1 and ZFP206. Sox2 acts as a transcriptional activator after forming a ternary complex with Oct3/4 and a conserved non-coding DNA sequence (CNS1) located approximately 2 kb upstream of the RAX promoter. The introduction of Sox2, Oct4, Myc, and Klf4, into human dermal fibroblasts isolated from a skin biopsy of a healthy research fellow was sufficient to confer a pluripotent state upon the fibroblast genome. The reprogrammed cells thus obtained resemble ESC in morphology, gene expression, and in the capacity to form teratomas in immune-deficient mice. Sox2 and other transcription factors have been introduced into cells by DNA transfection, viral infection, or microinjection. Protein transduction using TAT fusion proteins represents an alternative methodology for introducing transcription factors and other nuclear proteins into primary as well as transformed cells. Recombinant human Sox2-TAT expressed in E. coli is a 36 kDa protein containing 330 amino-acid residues, including the 317 residues of full-length Sox2 and a 13-residue C-terminal TAT peptide (GGYGRKKRRQRRR).
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