AI Article Synopsis
- The study found that in mouse embryonic stem cells, the expression of importin α switches from subtype α2 to α1 during neural differentiation, significantly affecting cell fate.
- Importin α2 prevents the nuclear import of key transcription factors like Oct6 and Brn2, maintaining the stem cell properties by keeping these factors in the cytoplasm.
- If this regulation by importin α2 is not reduced during differentiation, it can lead to improper cell death, highlighting its crucial role in ensuring correct timing for transcription factor activity.
Article Abstract
We recently demonstrated that the expression of the importin α subtype is switched from α2 to α1 during neural differentiation in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and that this switching has a major impact on cell differentiation. In this study, we report a cell-fate determination mechanism in which importin α2 negatively regulates the nuclear import of certain transcription factors to maintain ESC properties. The nuclear import of Oct6 and Brn2 was inhibited via the formation of a transport-incompetent complex of the cargo bound to a nuclear localization signal binding site in importin α2. Unless this dominant-negative effect was downregulated upon ESC differentiation, inappropriate cell death was induced. We propose that although certain transcription factors are necessary for differentiation in ESCs, these factors are retained in the cytoplasm by importin α2, thereby preventing transcription factor activity in the nucleus until the cells undergo differentiation.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2013.06.022 | DOI Listing |
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