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HEREDITAS ›› 2012, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (9): 1097-1107.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1005.2012.01097

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Progress on pluripotency factors in zebrafish

HU Yu, YAO Ji-Hua   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
  • Received:2012-02-25 Revised:2012-03-28 Online:2012-09-20 Published:2012-09-25

Abstract: The mammalian pluripotency factors, including transcription factors such as Pou5f1/Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and Nanog, play critical roles both in maintaining pluripotency of embryonic stem cells and inducing reprogramming of differentiated cells. However, the functions of vertebrate pluripotency factors in vivo have not been elucidated. Zebrafish(Danio rerio H.), is an excellent model for studying vertebrates’ early embryo development. It allows functional studies of pluripotency factors to be conducted in an in vivo environment and therefore provides more accurate information about their roles. Nowadays, several homologs of mammalian pluripotency factors including oct4, nanog etc have been identified in zebrafish. This review is aimed at introducing the progress of the functional study on zebrafish pluripotency factors and comparing that to those of other vertebrates.

Key words: zebrafish, pluripotency factors, embryonic stem like cells