The emergence of Sox and POU transcription factors predates the origins of animal stem cells
Abstract Stem cells are a hallmark of animal multicellularity. Sox and POU transcription factors are associated with stemness and were believed to be animal innovations, reported absent in their unicellular relatives. Here we describe unicellular Sox and POU factors. Choanoflagellate and filasterean...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54152-x |
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| author | Ya Gao Daisylyn Senna Tan Mathias Girbig Haoqing Hu Xiaomin Zhou Qianwen Xie Shi Wing Yeung Kin Shing Lee Sik Yin Ho Vlad Cojocaru Jian Yan Georg K. A. Hochberg Alex de Mendoza Ralf Jauch |
| author_facet | Ya Gao Daisylyn Senna Tan Mathias Girbig Haoqing Hu Xiaomin Zhou Qianwen Xie Shi Wing Yeung Kin Shing Lee Sik Yin Ho Vlad Cojocaru Jian Yan Georg K. A. Hochberg Alex de Mendoza Ralf Jauch |
| author_sort | Ya Gao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Stem cells are a hallmark of animal multicellularity. Sox and POU transcription factors are associated with stemness and were believed to be animal innovations, reported absent in their unicellular relatives. Here we describe unicellular Sox and POU factors. Choanoflagellate and filasterean Sox proteins have DNA-binding specificity similar to mammalian Sox2. Choanoflagellate—but not filasterean—Sox can replace Sox2 to reprogram mouse somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) through interacting with the mouse POU member Oct4. In contrast, choanoflagellate POU has a distinct DNA-binding profile and cannot generate iPSCs. Ancestrally reconstructed Sox proteins indicate that iPSC formation capacity is pervasive among resurrected sequences, thus loss of Sox2-like properties fostered Sox family subfunctionalization. Our findings imply that the evolution of animal stem cells might have involved the exaptation of a pre-existing set of transcription factors, where pre-animal Sox was biochemically similar to extant Sox, whilst POU factors required evolutionary innovations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-49ecad2e0c904009b9fb295d79784ea9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-49ecad2e0c904009b9fb295d79784ea92024-11-17T12:34:52ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232024-11-0115111610.1038/s41467-024-54152-xThe emergence of Sox and POU transcription factors predates the origins of animal stem cellsYa Gao0Daisylyn Senna Tan1Mathias Girbig2Haoqing Hu3Xiaomin Zhou4Qianwen Xie5Shi Wing Yeung6Kin Shing Lee7Sik Yin Ho8Vlad Cojocaru9Jian Yan10Georg K. A. Hochberg11Alex de Mendoza12Ralf Jauch13School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong KongSchool of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong KongEvolutionary Biochemistry Group, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial MicrobiologySchool of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong KongDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong KongDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong KongSchool of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong KongTransgenic Core Facility of the Centre for Comparative Medicine Research, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong KongSchool of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong KongSTAR-UBB Institute, Babeş-Bolyai UniversityDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong KongEvolutionary Biochemistry Group, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial MicrobiologySchool of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of LondonSchool of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong KongAbstract Stem cells are a hallmark of animal multicellularity. Sox and POU transcription factors are associated with stemness and were believed to be animal innovations, reported absent in their unicellular relatives. Here we describe unicellular Sox and POU factors. Choanoflagellate and filasterean Sox proteins have DNA-binding specificity similar to mammalian Sox2. Choanoflagellate—but not filasterean—Sox can replace Sox2 to reprogram mouse somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) through interacting with the mouse POU member Oct4. In contrast, choanoflagellate POU has a distinct DNA-binding profile and cannot generate iPSCs. Ancestrally reconstructed Sox proteins indicate that iPSC formation capacity is pervasive among resurrected sequences, thus loss of Sox2-like properties fostered Sox family subfunctionalization. Our findings imply that the evolution of animal stem cells might have involved the exaptation of a pre-existing set of transcription factors, where pre-animal Sox was biochemically similar to extant Sox, whilst POU factors required evolutionary innovations.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54152-x |
| spellingShingle | Ya Gao Daisylyn Senna Tan Mathias Girbig Haoqing Hu Xiaomin Zhou Qianwen Xie Shi Wing Yeung Kin Shing Lee Sik Yin Ho Vlad Cojocaru Jian Yan Georg K. A. Hochberg Alex de Mendoza Ralf Jauch The emergence of Sox and POU transcription factors predates the origins of animal stem cells Nature Communications |
| title | The emergence of Sox and POU transcription factors predates the origins of animal stem cells |
| title_full | The emergence of Sox and POU transcription factors predates the origins of animal stem cells |
| title_fullStr | The emergence of Sox and POU transcription factors predates the origins of animal stem cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | The emergence of Sox and POU transcription factors predates the origins of animal stem cells |
| title_short | The emergence of Sox and POU transcription factors predates the origins of animal stem cells |
| title_sort | emergence of sox and pou transcription factors predates the origins of animal stem cells |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54152-x |
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