To address these questions and further elucidate the factors that mediate stem cell function, we undertook an analysis to identify genes whose expression is correlated to Oct4.
The majority of cytokines that mediate stem cell migration do so via modulation either of SDF-1α or of its receptor, CXCR4.
Recently, our group demonstrated that P-cadherin expression is able to mediate stem cell properties in basal-like breast cancer cells [ 30].
These factors may signal via the circulation to mediate stem cell homing from the circulation, bone marrow, or tissue to the site of injury, thus aiding in tissue repair.
Given that OCT4 pseudogenes in mice are reported to mediate stem cell regulatory function [ 34], it is possible to hypothesize that OCT4 pseudogenes, including POU5F1P1, might play a role in stem cell proliferation.
mex3-1 was further needed to prevent the expansion of the stem cell compartment, including sigma-, ganda-, and zeta-class neoblasts, which suggests that mex3-1 acto to mediate stem cell lineage asymmetry in the general stem cell pool and regulate all postmitotic lineages.
