Stem cells and sox 2

Sox 2, a member of the Sox B1 family of proteins, plays an important role in stem cells. It helps to regulate the self renewal of embryonic stem cells and to maintain pluripotency and keep stem cells from differentiating. Sox 2 is one of the main transcription factors used to create induced pluripotent cells. Sox 2 has been associated with cancer stem cells and is believed to play a role in initiating skin tumors. It regulates a gene network that is involved in regulating pluripotency and the survival and proliferation of tumor cells. While sox 2 is a necessary transcription factor for maintaining stem cells, and is used by scientists to create induced pluripotent stem cells, it also plays a worrisome role in cancer stem cells. Sox 2 is important in neural stem cells; along with sox 3, it keeps oligodendrocyte precursor cells from becoming mature oligodendrocytes (neural glia that have a myelinating function).