A portion of amino acids 1-30 from the human protein was used as the immunogen for this Oct4 antibody.
Transcription factors containing the POU homeodomain have been shown to be important regulators of tissue-specific gene expression in lymphoid and pituitary differentiation and in early mammalian development. Two forms of POU5F1/OCT4/OCT3 mRNA are expressed in adult tissues as a result of alternative splicing--OCT3A and OCT3B. Reverse transcriptase PCR showed low level of expression in both OCT3A and OCT3B mRNA in all adult human tissues examined. Oct3 is present in mouse oocytes before and after fertilization. When fertilized oocytes were injected with antisense Oct3 oligonucleotides or double-stranded DNA containing the octamer motif, embryonic DNA synthesis was inhibited and the embryos were arrested at the one-cell stage.
