PLoS ONE (Jan 2014)

Pleiotropic functions for transcription factor zscan10.

  • Petra Kraus,
  • Sivakamasundari V,
  • Hong Bing Yu,
  • Xing Xing,
  • Siew Lan Lim,
  • Thure Adler,
  • Juan Antonio Aguilar Pimentel,
  • Lore Becker,
  • Alexander Bohla,
  • Lillian Garrett,
  • Wolfgang Hans,
  • Sabine M Hölter,
  • Eva Janas,
  • Kristin Moreth,
  • Cornelia Prehn,
  • Oliver Puk,
  • Birgit Rathkolb,
  • Jan Rozman,
  • Jerzy Adamski,
  • Raffi Bekeredjian,
  • Dirk H Busch,
  • Jochen Graw,
  • Martin Klingenspor,
  • Thomas Klopstock,
  • Frauke Neff,
  • Markus Ollert,
  • Tobias Stoeger,
  • Ali Önder Yildrim,
  • Oliver Eickelberg,
  • Eckhard Wolf,
  • Wolfgang Wurst,
  • Helmut Fuchs,
  • Valérie Gailus-Durner,
  • Martin Hrabě de Angelis,
  • Thomas Lufkin,
  • Lawrence W Stanton

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0104568
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 8
p. e104568

Abstract

Read online

The transcription factor Zscan10 had been attributed a role as a pluripotency factor in embryonic stem cells based on its interaction with Oct4 and Sox2 in in vitro assays. Here we suggest a potential role of Zscan10 in controlling progenitor cell populations in vivo. Mice homozygous for a Zscan10 mutation exhibit reduced weight, mild hypoplasia in the spleen, heart and long bones and phenocopy an eye malformation previously described for Sox2 hypomorphs. Phenotypic abnormalities are supported by the nature of Zscan10 expression in midgestation embryos and adults suggesting a role for Zscan10 in either maintaining progenitor cell subpopulation or impacting on fate choice decisions thereof.