2024-11-15 マックス・プランク研究所
<関連情報>
- https://www.mpg.de/23740538/1115-terr-a-journey-back-in-time-to-the-origin-of-stem-cells-153410-x
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-54152-x
SoxとPOU転写因子の出現は、動物幹細胞の起源よりも古い The emergence of Sox and POU transcription factors predates the origins of animal stem cells
Ya Gao,Daisylyn Senna Tan,Mathias Girbig,Haoqing Hu,Xiaomin Zhou,Qianwen Xie,Shi Wing Yeung,Kin Shing Lee,Sik Yin Ho,Vlad Cojocaru,Jian Yan,Georg K. A. Hochberg,Alex de Mendoza & Ralf Jauch
Nature Communications Published:14 November 2024
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54152-x
Abstract
Stem cells are a hallmark of animal multicellularity. Sox and POU transcription factors are associated with stemness and were believed to be animal innovations, reported absent in their unicellular relatives. Here we describe unicellular Sox and POU factors. Choanoflagellate and filasterean Sox proteins have DNA-binding specificity similar to mammalian Sox2. Choanoflagellate—but not filasterean—Sox can replace Sox2 to reprogram mouse somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) through interacting with the mouse POU member Oct4. In contrast, choanoflagellate POU has a distinct DNA-binding profile and cannot generate iPSCs. Ancestrally reconstructed Sox proteins indicate that iPSC formation capacity is pervasive among resurrected sequences, thus loss of Sox2-like properties fostered Sox family subfunctionalization. Our findings imply that the evolution of animal stem cells might have involved the exaptation of a pre-existing set of transcription factors, where pre-animal Sox was biochemically similar to extant Sox, whilst POU factors required evolutionary innovations.
