Table 2.
Gene abbreviation | Gene name | Biochemical functiona |
---|---|---|
Cx43 | Connexin 43 | Component of connexons. |
DNMT3B | DNA (cytosine-5) methyltransferase 3β | Required for genome-wide de novo methylation and is essential for the establishment of DNA methylation patterns during development. |
FOXD3 | Forkhead box D3 | Required for maintenance of pluripotent cells in the pre-implantation and peri-implantation stages of embryogenesis. |
GAL | Galanin | Contracts smooth muscle of the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tract, regulates growth hormone release, modulates insulin release, and may be involved in the control of adrenal secretion. |
GDF3 | Growth differentiation factor 3 | Control differentiation of ESCs in mice and humans. This molecule plays a role in mesoderm and definitive endoderm formation during the pre-gastrulation stages of development. |
PODXL | Podocalyxin-like | Pro-adhesive molecule, enhancing the adherence of cells to immobilized ligands, increasing the rate of migration and cell-cell contacts in an integrin-dependent manner. |
LEFTYA | Left-right determination factor A | Required for left-right (L-R) asymmetry determination of organ systems in mammals. |
LEFTYB | Left-right determination factor A | Required for left-right axis determination as a regulator of LEFTY2 and NODAL. |
LIN28 | Cell lineage protein 28 | Acts as a “translational enhancer,” driving specific mRNAs to polysomes and thus increasing the efficiency of protein synthesis. Its association with the translational machinery and target mRNAs results in an increased number of initiation events per molecule of mRNA and, indirectly, in stabilizing the mRNAs. |
NANOG | Nanog | Transcription regulator involved in inner cell mass and ESCs proliferation and self-renewal. Imposes pluripotency on ESCs and prevents their differentiation towards extraembryonic endoderm and trophectoderm lineages. |
OCT4 | Octamer binding protein 4 | Forms a trimeric complex with SOX2 on DNA and controls the expression of a number of genes involved in embryonic development |
REX1 | Zinc finger protein 42 | Involved in self-renewal property of ESCs. |
SOX2 | SRY-related HMG box 2 | Transcription factor that forms a trimeric complex with OCT4 on DNA and controls the expression of a number of genes involved in embryonic development. |
TDGF1 | Teratocarcinoma-derived growth factor 1 | Play a role in the determination of the epiblastic cells that subsequently give rise to the mesoderm. |
TERF1 | Telomeric repeat binding factor 1 | Component of the shelterin complex (telosome) that is involved in the regulation of telomere length and protection. |
TERF2 | Telomeric repeat binding factor 1 | Component of the shelterin complex (telosome) that is involved in the regulation of telomere length and protection. |
TERT | Telomerase | Catalytic component of the teleromerase holoenzyme complex whose main activity is the elongation of telomeres by acting as a reverse transcriptase that adds simple sequence repeats to chromosome ends by copying a template sequence within the RNA component of the enzyme. |
UTF-1 | Undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor-1 | Acts as a transcriptional coactivator of ATF2, a transcriptional activator, probably constitutive, which binds to the cAMP-responsive element. |
Extracted from GeneCards (www.genecards.org).