OCT6 inhibits the differentiation of porcine induced pluripotent stem cells through MAPK and PI3K signal regulations

As a transcription factor of the POU family, OCT6 plays different roles in stem cell development and differentiation, but its role in porcine induced pluripotent stem cells (piPSCs) is unclear. Here we explored the function of OCT6 in piPSCs. We found that piPSCs overexpressing OCT6 could maintain clonal morphology and pluripotency in differentiation condition, with a similar gene expression pattern to that of non-differentiated piPSCs. Functional analysis revealed that OCT6 alleviates the adverse effect on piPSC pluripotency caused by the inhibition of ERK signaling pathway, through activating PI3K-AKT signal activity. Our research shed new light on the mechanism for OCT6 promoted pluripotent stem cell maintenance.