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Abstract
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Background Spermatogonia Stem Cells (SSCs) are potential candidates for reprogramming and regeneration. Recent studies
have revealed that differentiated cells can be reverted to pluripotent by overexpressing a set of pluripotent transcription
factors. OCT4 (encoded by pou5f1), a POU transcription factor family member, is essential to the potential that controls
pluripotency, and it is widely expressed in pluripotent stem cells, although it decreased or suppressed after differentiation.
Methods In this investigated research, we examined the OCT4 expression during the differentiation of SSCs into neurons
(involving four stages in the following order: SSCs in vivo and in-vitro, embryonic Stem Cell-like (ES-like), Embryonic
Bodies (EBs), and finally Neurons) by Immunocytochemistry (ICC), Immunohistochemistry (IMH), and Fluidigm Real-
Time polymerase chain reaction. In addition, we use some databases like STRING to predict protein–protein interaction
and enrichment analysis.
Results We evaluated the expression of OCT4 in this process, and we observed that it is expressed in SSCs, ES-like, and EBs
during the differentiation of spermatogonia stem cells into adult neurons. We show that by adding RA to EBs, the expression
of OCT4 is reduced and is not expressed in the neuron cells. We observed that the expression of OCT4 is linked and interacts
with the differentiation of spermatogonia stem cells into neuron cells, and it has been shown to be biologically functional,
like stem cell maintenance and somatic cell reprogramming.
Conclusion Our findings can help us better understand the process of differentiation of spermatogonia stem cells into neurons,
and it can be effective in finding new and more efficient treatments for neurogenesis and repair of neurons.
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