A High Level of Nanog-luciferase Activity by Recombinant Oct-4 Protein : toward Developmental Tool for IPS Cell Generation

Abstract

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) technology which enable a generation of cells
with human embryonic stem cells (ES) properties from somatic cells provide the possibility
for creating various cell types for autologous transplantation in patient. Nevertheless, the
problems associated with using retroviruses and oncogenes for reprogramming process need
to be resolved before iPS cells can be considered for human therapy. In this study we
demonstrate that recombinant protein Oct-4, one of the four key factors for reprogramming,
containing protein transduction domain can pass through somatic cell membrane when added
to the culture media. Treating mouse embryonic fibroblast with recombinant Oct-4 protein
resulted in an activation of nanog-luciferase reporter. These results suggest that the
recombinant Oct4 protein is active and may be used to substitute viral vector in iPS cell
generation.