SOX2 partners

Patients born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia have structural defects of the diaphragm and the lung. Concomitant with these abnormalities are changes at the cellular level leading to altered differentiation of airway cells. One of the factors involved in these processes is the transcription factor SOX2, which requires associating proteins for its functional activity. We have identified several proteins that interact with SOX2 during lung development, and showed for at least one factor, CHD4, co-binding to DNA. This suggests co-regulation of genes by SOX2 and CHD4, which could have effect on the differentiation of the airway epithelium.