Sox2
Sox2 (SRY-box transcription factor 2) is a member of the SRY-related HMG-box family of transcription factors. It regulates embryonic development and cell fate, and it is critical for embryonic stem cell pluripotency and for maintaining stem cells in the central nervous system. Browse Assay Genie's current range of Sox2 research reagents below, or read on for the biology behind the target.
Sox2 is a transcription factor that forms a trimeric complex with OCT4 on DNA. Through this complex it controls the expression of a number of genes involved in embryonic development, including YES1, FGF4, UTF1 and ZFP206, and it binds the proximal enhancer region of NANOG. These activities make Sox2 critical for early embryogenesis and for embryonic stem cell pluripotency.
In the nervous system, Sox2 keeps neural cells undifferentiated by counteracting the activity of proneural proteins, and it suppresses neuronal differentiation. It acts downstream of SRRT to promote neural stem cell self-renewal and may function as a switch in neuronal development. The NCBI Gene summary also notes that it is required for stem-cell maintenance in the central nervous system and that it regulates gene expression in the stomach. UniProt records the protein in the nucleus, including nuclear speckles, and in the cytoplasm.
The Sox2 gene belongs to the SRY-box transcription factor group and is intronless. It lies within an intron of another gene, SOX2 overlapping transcript (SOX2OT). Its earlier HGNC names were SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2 and SRY-box 2. Mutations in the gene have been associated with optic nerve hypoplasia and with syndromic microphthalmia, a severe form of structural eye malformation, which links Sox2 function to eye development as well as to stem-cell biology.
Sox2 partners with OCT4 and binds the NANOG proximal enhancer, so it is central to studies of embryonic stem cell pluripotency.
Sox2 promotes neural stem cell self-renewal downstream of SRRT and keeps neural cells undifferentiated by opposing proneural proteins.
Sox2 is critical for early embryogenesis and regulates genes such as YES1, FGF4, UTF1 and ZFP206 during development.
Mutations in the Sox2 gene are associated with optic nerve hypoplasia and syndromic microphthalmia, a severe structural eye malformation.
Sox2 is a transcription factor that forms a trimeric complex with OCT4 on DNA and controls genes involved in embryonic development. It is critical for early embryogenesis and embryonic stem cell pluripotency, and it keeps neural cells undifferentiated by suppressing neuronal differentiation.
The HGNC name is SRY-box transcription factor 2, and UniProt lists the protein as Transcription factor SOX-2. Previous names were SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2 and SRY-box 2. The gene lies within an intron of SOX2 overlapping transcript (SOX2OT).
Mutations in the human gene have been associated with optic nerve hypoplasia and syndromic microphthalmia. The mouse ortholog is also named Sox2. Check the datasheet of any product for its validated reactivity.
Other SOX family transcription factors and pluripotency partners of Sox2 with products at Assay Genie.
Gene and protein annotations from HGNC, NCBI Gene and UniProt P48431; product specifications from Assay Genie datasheets.