Learn and talk about SOX2, Human proteins, Transcription factors

SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2

PDB rendering based on 1gt0.

Available structures

Ortholog search: PDBe, RCSB

List of PDB id codes
1O4X, 2LE4

Identifiers

Symbols

SOX2; ANOP3; MCOPS3

External IDs

OMIM: 184429 MGI: 98364 HomoloGene: 68298 GeneCards: SOX2 Gene

Gene Ontology
Molecular function	• transcription regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding • RNA polymerase II core promoter proximal region sequence-specific DNA binding transcription factor activity involved in positive regulation of transcription • DNA binding • chromatin binding • sequence-specific DNA binding transcription factor activity • protein binding • miRNA binding • sequence-specific DNA binding • transcription regulatory region DNA binding
Cellular component	• nucleus • transcription factor complex • cytoplasm • cytosol
Biological process	• negative regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter • osteoblast differentiation • eye development • endodermal cell fate specification • positive regulation of neuroblast proliferation • chromatin organization • regulation of transcription, DNA-dependent • cell cycle arrest • response to wounding • regulation of gene expression • glial cell fate commitment • forebrain neuron differentiation • pituitary gland development • adenohypophysis development • cerebral cortex development • male genitalia development • positive regulation of epithelial cell differentiation • forebrain development • olfactory placode formation • response to retinoic acid • somatic stem cell maintenance • inner ear morphogenesis • regulation of cysteine-type endopeptidase activity involved in apoptotic process • positive regulation of MAPK cascade • tongue development • negative regulation of neuron differentiation • positive regulation of neuron differentiation • negative regulation of osteoblast differentiation • positive regulation of Notch signaling pathway • positive regulation of transcription, DNA-dependent • positive regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter • pigment biosynthetic process • lung alveolus development • neuron fate commitment • inner ear development • diencephalon morphogenesis • negative regulation of epithelial cell proliferation • detection of mechanical stimulus involved in sensory perception of sound • detection of mechanical stimulus involved in equilibrioception • retina morphogenesis in camera-type eye • lens induction in camera-type eye • epithelial tube branching involved in lung morphogenesis • response to growth factor stimulus • negative regulation of canonical Wnt receptor signaling pathway • neuronal stem cell maintenance
Sources: Amigo / QuickGO

RNA expression pattern

More reference expression data

Orthologs

Species

Human

Mouse

RefSeq (mRNA)

RefSeq (protein)

Location (UCSC)

Chr 3:
181.43 – 181.43 Mb

Chr 3:
34.65 – 34.65 Mb

PubMed search

[1]

[2]

SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2, also known as SOX2, is a transcription factor that is essential for maintaining self-renewal, or pluripotency, of undifferentiated embryonic stem cells. Sox2 is a member of the Sox family of transcription factors, which have been shown to play key roles in many stages of mammalian development. This protein family shares highly conserved DNA binding domains known as HMG (High-mobility group) box domains containing approximately 80 amino acids. Sox2 has a critical role in maintenance of embryonic and neural stem cells and holds great promise in research involving induced pluripotency, an emerging and very promising field of regenerative medicine.^[1]

1 Function and expression in pluripotency
2 Role in neural stem cells
3 Interactions
4 Clinical significance
5 Eye deformities
- 5.1 Cancer
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links

Function and expression in pluripotency[edit]

LIF (Leukemia inhibitory factor) signaling, which maintains pluripotency in mouse embryonic stem cells, activates Sox2 downstream of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway and subsequent activation of Klf4 (a member of the family of Kruppel-like factors). Oct-4, Sox2 and Nanog positively regulate transcription of all pluripotency circuitry proteins in the LIF pathway.^[2]

NPM1, a transcriptional regulator involved in cell proliferation, individually forms complexes with Sox2, Oct4 and Nanog in embryonic stem cells.^[3] These three pluripotency factors contribute to a complex molecular network that regulates a number of genes controlling pluripotency. Sox2 binds to DNA cooperatively with Oct4 at non-palindromic sequences to activate transcription of key pluripotency factors.^[4] Surprisingly, regulation of Oct4-Sox2 enhancers can occur without Sox2, likely due to expression of other Sox proteins. However, a group of researchers concluded that the primary role of Sox2 in embryonic stem cells is controlling Oct4 expression, and they both perpetuate their own expression when expressed concurrently.^[5]

In an experiment involving mouse embryonic stem cells, it was discovered that Sox2 in conjunction with Oct4, c-Myc and Klf4 were sufficient for producing induced pluripotent stem cells.^[6] The discovery that expression of only four transcription factors was necessary to induce pluripotency allowed future regenerative medicine research to be conducted considering minor manipulations.

Loss of pluripotency is regulated by hypermethylation of some Sox2 and Oct4 binding sites in male germ cells^[7] and post-transcriptional suppression of Sox2 by miR134.^[8]

Varying levels of Sox2 affect embryonic stem cells' fate of differentiation. Sox2 inhibits differentiation into the mesendoderm germ layer and promotes differentiation into neural ectoderm germ layer.^[9] Npm1/Sox2 complexes are sustained when differentiation is induced along the ectodermal lineage, emphasizing an important functional role for Sox2 in ectodermal differentiation.^[3]

Role in neural stem cells[edit]

In neurogenesis, Sox2 is expressed throughout developing cells in the neural tube as well as in proliferating CNS progenitors. However, Sox2 is downregulated during progenitors' final cell cycle during differentiation when they become post mitotic. ^[10] Cells expressing Sox2 are capable of both producing cells identical to themselves and differentiated neural cell types, two necessary hallmarks of stem cells. Proliferation of Sox2+ neural stem cells can generate neural precursors as well as Sox2+ neural stem cell population.^[11]

Induced pluripotency is possible using adult neural stem cells, which express higher levels of Sox2 and c-Myc than embryonic stem cells. Therefore only two exogenous factors, one of which is necessarily Oct4, are sufficient for inducing pluripotent cells from neural stem cells, lessening the complications and risks associated with introducing multiple factors to induce pluripotency.^[12]

Interactions[edit]

SOX2 has been shown to interact with PAX6,^[13] NPM1, ^[2] and Oct4.^[4] SOX2 has been found to cooperatively regulate Rex1 with Oct3/4.^[14]

Clinical significance[edit]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (January 2013)

Eye deformities[edit]

Mutations in this gene have been linked with bilateral anophthalmia, a severe structural eye deformity.^[15]

Cancer[edit]

In lung development, Sox2 controls the branching morphogenesis of the bronchial tree and differentiation of the epithelium of airways. Overexpression causes an increase in neuroendocrine, gastric/intestinal and basal cells.^[16] Under normal conditions, Sox2 is critical for maintaining self-renewal and appropriate proportion of basal cells in adult tracheal epithelium. However, its overexpression gives rise to extensive epithelial hyperplasia and eventually carcinoma in both developing and adult mouse lungs.^[17]

In squamous cell carcinoma, gene amplifications frequently target the 3q26.3 region. The gene for Sox2 lies within this region, which effectively characterizes Sox2 as an oncogene. Sox2 is a key upregulated factor in lung squamous cell carcinoma, directing many genes involved in tumor progression. Its overexpression also activates cellular migration and anchorage-independent growth.^[18]

Sox2 expression is also found in high gleason grade prostate cancer, and promotes castration-resistant prostate cancer growth. ^[19]

The ectopic expression of SOX2 may be related to abnormal differentiation of colorectal cancer cells.^[20]

References[edit]

^ Rizzino A (2009). "Sox2 and Oct-3/4: a versatile pair of master regulators that orchestrate the self-renewal and pluripotency of embryonic stem cells". Wiley Interdiscip Rev Syst Biol Med 1 (2): 228–36. doi:10.1002/wsbm.12. PMC 2794141. PMID 20016762.
^ ^a ^b Niwa H, Ogawa K, Shimosato D, Adachi K (July 2009). "A parallel circuit of LIF signalling pathways maintains pluripotency of mouse ES cells". Nature 460 (7251): 118–22. doi:10.1038/nature08113. PMID 19571885.
^ ^a ^b Johansson H, Simonsson S (November 2010). "Core transcription factors, Oct4, Sox2 and Nanog, individually form complexes with nucleophosmin (Npm1) to control embryonic stem (ES) cell fate determination". Aging (Albany NY) 2 (11): 815–22. PMC 3006024. PMID 21076177.
^ ^a ^b Chambers I, Tomlinson SR (July 2009). "The transcriptional foundation of pluripotency". Development 136 (14): 2311–22. doi:10.1242/dev.024398. PMC 2729344. PMID 19542351.
^ Masui S, Nakatake Y, Toyooka Y, Shimosato D, Yagi R, Takahashi K, Okochi H, Okuda A, Matoba R, Sharov AA, Ko MS, Niwa H (June 2007). "Pluripotency governed by Sox2 via regulation of Oct3/4 expression in mouse embryonic stem cells". Nat. Cell Biol. 9 (6): 625–35. doi:10.1038/ncb1589. PMID 17515932.
^ Takahashi K, Yamanaka S (August 2006). "Induction of pluripotent stem cells from mouse embryonic and adult fibroblast cultures by defined factors". Cell 126 (4): 663–76. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2006.07.024. PMID 16904174.
^ Imamura M, Miura K, Iwabuchi K, Ichisaka T, Nakagawa M, Lee J, Kanatsu-Shinohara M, Shinohara T, Yamanaka S (2006). "Transcriptional repression and DNA hypermethylation of a small set of ES cell marker genes in male germline stem cells". BMC Dev. Biol. 6: 34. doi:10.1186/1471-213X-6-34. PMC 1564388. PMID 16859545.
^ Tay Y, Zhang J, Thomson AM, Lim B, Rigoutsos I (October 2008). "MicroRNAs to Nanog, Oct4 and Sox2 coding regions modulate embryonic stem cell differentiation". Nature 455 (7216): 1124–8. doi:10.1038/nature07299. PMC 2577422. PMID 18806776.
^ Thomson M, Liu SJ, Zou LN, Smith Z, Meissner A, Ramanathan S (June 2011). "Pluripotency factors in embryonic stem cells regulate differentiation into germ layers". Cell 145 (6): 875–89. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2011.05.017. PMID 21663792.
^ Graham, V.; Khudyakov, J.; Ellis, P.; Pevny, L. (2003). "SOX2 functions to maintain neural progenitor identity". Neuron 39 (5): 749–765. doi:10.1016/S0896-6273(03)00497-5. PMID 12948443. edit
^ Suh H, Consiglio A, Ray J, Sawai T, D'Amour KA, Gage FH (November 2007). "In vivo fate analysis reveals the multipotent and self-renewal capacities of Sox2+ neural stem cells in the adult hippocampus". Cell Stem Cell 1 (5): 515–28. doi:10.1016/j.stem.2007.09.002. PMC 2185820. PMID 18371391.
^ Kim JB, Zaehres H, Wu G, Gentile L, Ko K, Sebastiano V, Araúzo-Bravo MJ, Ruau D, Han DW, Zenke M, Schöler HR (July 2008). "Pluripotent stem cells induced from adult neural stem cells by reprogramming with two factors". Nature 454 (7204): 646–50. doi:10.1038/nature07061. PMID 18594515.
^ Aota S, Nakajima N, Sakamoto R, Watanabe S, Ibaraki N, Okazaki K (May 2003). "Pax6 autoregulation mediated by direct interaction of Pax6 protein with the head surface ectoderm-specific enhancer of the mouse Pax6 gene". Dev. Biol. 257 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1016/S0012-1606(03)00058-7. PMID 12710953.
^ Shi W, Wang H, Pan G, Geng Y, Guo Y, Pei D (August 2006). "Regulation of the pluripotency marker Rex-1 by Nanog and Sox2". J. Biol. Chem. 281 (33): 23319–25. doi:10.1074/jbc.M601811200. PMID 16714766.
^ "Entrez Gene: SOX2 SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2".
^ Gontan C, de Munck A, Vermeij M, Grosveld F, Tibboel D, Rottier R (May 2008). "Sox2 is important for two crucial processes in lung development: branching morphogenesis and epithelial cell differentiation". Dev. Biol. 317 (1): 296–309. doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2008.02.035. PMID 18374910.
^ Lu Y, Futtner C, Rock JR, Xu X, Whitworth W, Hogan BL, Onaitis MW (2010). "Evidence that SOX2 overexpression is oncogenic in the lung". PLoS ONE 5 (6): e11022. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0011022. PMC 2883553. PMID 20548776.
^ Hussenet T, Dali S, Exinger J, Monga B, Jost B, Dembelé D, Martinet N, Thibault C, Huelsken J, Brambilla E, du Manoir S (2010). "SOX2 is an oncogene activated by recurrent 3q26.3 amplifications in human lung squamous cell carcinomas". PLoS ONE 5 (1): e8960. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008960. PMC 2813300. PMID 20126410.
^ Kregel, S., Kiriluk, K., Rosen, A., Cai, Y., Reyes, E.E., Otto, K., Paner, G.P., Szmulewitz, RZ., Vander Griend D.J (2013). "Sox2 Is an Androgen Receptor-Repressed Gene That Promotes Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer". PLoS ONE 8 (1): e53701. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.00537010. PMC 3543364. PMID 23326489.
^ Tani Y, Akiyama Y, Fukamachi H, Yanagihara K, Yuasa Y (April 2007). "Transcription factor SOX2 up-regulates stomach-specific pepsinogen A gene expression". J. Cancer Res. Clin. Oncol. 133 (4): 263–9. doi:10.1007/s00432-006-0165-x. PMID 17136346.

External links[edit]

PDB gallery

1gt0: CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF A POU/HMG/DNA TERNARY COMPLEX

1o4x: TERNARY COMPLEX OF THE DNA BINDING DOMAINS OF THE OCT1 AND SOX2 TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS WITH A 19MER OLIGONUCLEOTIDE FROM THE HOXB1 REGULATORY ELEMENT

Transcription factors and intracellular receptors

(1) Basic domains

(1.1) Basic leucine zipper (bZIP)	Activating transcription factor (AATF, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) · AP-1 (c-Fos, FOSB, FOSL1, FOSL2, JDP2, c-Jun, JUNB, JUND) · BACH (1, 2) · BATF · BLZF1 · C/EBP (α, β, γ, δ, ε, ζ) · CREB (1, 3, L1) · CREM · DBP · DDIT3 · GABPA · HLF · MAF (B, F, G, K) · NFE (2, L1, L2, L3) · NFIL3 · NRL · NRF (1, 2, 3) · XBP1

(1.2) Basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH)	ATOH1 · AhR · AHRR · ARNT · ASCL1 · BHLH (2, 9) · BMAL (ARNTL, ARNTL2) · CLOCK · EPAS1 · FIGLA · HAND (1, 2) · HES (5, 6) · HEY (1, 2, L) · HES1 · HIF (1A, 3A) · ID (1, 2, 3, 4) · LYL1 · MESP2 · MXD4 · MYCL1 · MYCN · Myogenic regulatory factors (MyoD, Myogenin, MYF5, MYF6) · Neurogenins (1, 2, 3) · NeuroD (1, 2) · NPAS (1, 2, 3) · OLIG (1, 2) · Pho4 · Scleraxis · SIM (1, 2) · TAL (1, 2) · Twist · USF1

(1.3) bHLH-ZIP	AP-4 · MAX (MXD3) · MITF · MNT · MLX · MXI1 · Myc · SREBP (1, 2)

(1.4) NF-1	NFI (A, B, C, X) · SMAD (R-SMAD (1, 2, 3, 5, 9) - I-SMAD (6, 7) - 4)

(1.5) RF-X	RFX (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ANK)

(1.6) Basic helix-span-helix (bHSH)	AP-2 (α, β, γ, δ, ε)

(2) Zinc finger DNA-binding domains

(2.1) Nuclear receptor (Cys₄)	subfamily 1 (Thyroid hormone (α, β), CAR, FXR, LXR (α, β), PPAR (α, β/δ, γ), PXR, RAR (α, β, γ), ROR (α, β, γ), Rev-ErbA (α, β), VDR) subfamily 2 (COUP-TF (I, II), Ear-2, HNF4 (α, γ), PNR, RXR (α, β, γ), Testicular receptor (2, 4), TLX) subfamily 3 (Steroid hormone (Androgen, Estrogen (α, β), Glucocorticoid, Mineralocorticoid, Progesterone), Estrogen related (α, β, γ)) subfamily 4 NUR (NGFIB, NOR1, NURR1) · subfamily 5 (LRH-1, SF1) · subfamily 6 (GCNF) · subfamily 0 (DAX1, SHP)

(2.2) Other Cys₄	GATA (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) · MTA (1, 2, 3) · TRPS1

(2.3) Cys₂His₂	General transcription factors (TFIIA, TFIIB, TFIID, TFIIE (1, 2), TFIIF (1, 2), TFIIH (1, 2, 4, 2I, 3A, 3C1, 3C2)) ATBF1 · BCL (6, 11A, 11B) · CTCF · E4F1 · EGR (1, 2, 3, 4) · ERV3 · GFI1 · GLI-Krüppel family (1, 2, 3, REST, S1, S2, YY1) · HIC (1, 2) · HIVEP (1, 2, 3) · IKZF (1, 2, 3) · ILF (2, 3) · KLF (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17) · MTF1 · MYT1 · OSR1 · PRDM9 · SALL (1, 2, 3, 4) · SP (1, 2, 4, 7, 8) · TSHZ3 · WT1 · Zbtb7 (7A, 7B) · ZBTB (11, 16, 17, 20, 32, 33, 40) · zinc finger (3, 7, 9, 10, 19, 22, 24, 33B, 34, 35, 41, 43, 44, 51, 74, 143, 146, 148, 165, 202, 217, 219, 238, 239, 259, 267, 268, 281, 295, 300, 318, 330, 346, 350, 365, 366, 384, 423, 451, 452, 471, 593, 638, 644, 649, 655)

(2.4) Cys₆	HIVEP1

(2.5) Alternating composition	AIRE · DIDO1 · GRLF1 · ING (1, 2, 4) · JARID (1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2) · JMJD1B

(2.6) WRKY	WRKY

(3) Helix-turn-helix domains

(3.1) Homeodomain	ARX · CDX (1, 2) · CRX · CUTL1 · DBX (1, 2) · DLX (3, 4, 5) · EMX (1, 2) · EN (1, 2) · FHL (1, 2, 3) · HESX1 · HHEX · HLX · Homeobox (A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A7, A9, A10, A11, A13, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8, B9, B13, C4, C5, C6, C8, C9, C10, C11, C12, C13, D1, D3, D4, D8, D9, D10, D11, D12, D13) · HOPX · IRX (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, MKX) · LMX (1A, 1B) · MEIS (1, 2) · MEOX2 · MNX1 · MSX (1, 2) · NANOG · NKX (2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-5, 3-1, 3-2, 6-1, 6-2) · NOBOX · PBX (1, 2, 3) · PHF (1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 16, 17, 20, 21A) · PHOX (2A, 2B) · PITX (1, 2, 3) · POU domain (PIT-1, BRN-3: A, B, C, Octamer transcription factor: 1, 2, 3/4, 6, 7, 11) · OTX (1, 2) · PDX1 · SATB2 · SHOX2 · SIX (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) · VAX1 · ZEB (1, 2)

(3.2) Paired box	PAX (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

(3.3) Fork head / winged helix	E2F (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) · FOX proteins (A1, A2, A3, C1, C2, D3, D4, E1, E3, F1, G1, H1, I1, J1, J2, K1, K2, L2, M1, N1, N3, O1, O3, O4, P1, P2, P3, P4)

(3.4) Heat Shock Factors	HSF (1, 2, 4)

(3.5) Tryptophan clusters	ELF (2, 4, 5) · EGF · ELK (1, 3, 4) · ERF · ETS (1, 2, ERG, SPIB) · ETV (1, 4, 5, 6) · FLI1 · Interferon regulatory factors (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) · MYB · MYBL2

(3.6) TEA domain	transcriptional enhancer factor (1, 2, 3, 4)

(4) β-Scaffold factors with minor groove contacts

(4.1) Rel homology region	NF-κB (NFKB1, NFKB2, REL, RELA, RELB) · NFAT (C1, C2, C3, C4, 5)

(4.2) STAT	STAT (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

(4.3) p53	p53 · TBX (1, 2, 3, 5, 19, 21, 22, Brachyury, TBR1, TBR2) · TP63

(4.4) MADS box	Mef2 (A, B, C, D) · SRF

(4.6) TATA binding proteins	TBP · TBPL1

(4.7) High-mobility group	BBX · HMGB (1, 2, 3, 4) · HMGN (1, 2, 3, 4) · HNF (1A, 1B) · LEF1 · SOX (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 21) · SRY · SSRP1 · TCF (3, 4) · TOX (1, 2, 3, 4)

(4.9) Grainyhead	TFCP2

(4.10) Cold-shock domain	CSDA, YBX1

(4.11) Runt	CBF (CBFA2T2, CBFA2T3, RUNX1, RUNX2, RUNX3, RUNX1T1)

(0) Other transcription factors

(0.2) HMGI(Y)	HMGA (1, 2) · HBP1

(0.3) Pocket domain	Rb · RBL1 · RBL2

(0.5) AP-2/EREBP-related factors	Apetala 2 · EREBP · B3

(0.6) Miscellaneous	ARID (1A, 1B, 2, 3A, 3B, 4A) · CAP · IFI (16, 35) · MLL (2, 3, T1) · MNDA · NFY (A, B, C) · Rho/Sigma

see also transcription factor/coregulator deficiencies
B bsyn: dna (repl, cycl, reco, repr) · tscr (fact, tcrg, nucl, rnat, rept, ptts) · tltn (risu, pttl, nexn) · dnab, rnab/runp · stru (domn, 1°, 2°, 3°, 4°)

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SOX2

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