Role in Neural Stem Cells
In neurogenesis, Sox2 is expressed throughout developing cells in the neural tube as well as in proliferating CNS progenitors. However, Sox2 is downregulated during progenitors' final cell cycle during differentiation when they become post mitotic. Cells expressing Sox2 are capable of both producing cells identical to themselves and differentiated neural cell types, two necessary hallmarks of stem cells. Proliferation of Sox2+ neural stem cells can generate neural precursors as well as Sox2+ neural stem cell population.
Induced pluripotency is possible using adult neural stem cells, which express higher levels of Sox2 and c-Myc than embryonic stem cells. Therefore only two exogenous factors, one of which is necessarily Oct4, are sufficient for inducing pluripotent cells from neural stem cells, lessening the complications and risks associated with introducing multiple factors to induce pluripotency.
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