OCT4 expression transactivated by GATA protein is essential for non-rodent trophectoderm early development
Gerelchimeg Bou, Jia Guo, Shichao Liu, Shimeng Guo, Gantulga Davaakhuu, Qi Lv, Binghua Xue, Shupei Qiao, Jiawei Lv, Xiaogang Weng, Jianchao Zhao, Yuting Zhang, Yilong He, Heng Zhang, Zhuang Chai, Yan Liu, Yanbo Yu, Bo Qu, Ruizhen Sun, Xing‐Hui Shen, Lei Lei, Zhonghua Liu
Abstract
Oct4 is exclusively expressed in rodent inner cell mass (ICM) but silenced in its trophectoderm (TE). However, for many non-rodent animals, including pig, cattle, rabbit, goat, and human, OCT4 has a remarkable expression in early TE. This study, applying pig as the main research model, proves that OCT4 expression in TE is supported by a unique GATA motif in the OCT4 upstream conserved regulatory region, and GATA4 is responsible for its activation. Moreover, OCT4 acts as a specific regulator of a narrow range of genes (including BCL2A1 and HNRNP2AB1) that are essential for the first wave of rapid proliferation in early TE. This study describes the regulatory mechanism to direct the OCT4 expression and its significance in TE of porcine preimplantation embryo.