CUT&RUN Targeting c-FOS, c-JUN and SOX2 in neurospheres derived from mouse brain cells

Other than in the development of the brain, SOX2 is essential for the long-term self-renewal of neural stem cells (NSCs). The mechanisms of how SOX2 maintains the stemness of NSCs is not yet understood. We have identified Fos as a downstream target of SOX2, and therefore used CUT&RUN to investigate where these transcription factors - and the c-FOS partner c-JUN - interact with the genome. By comparing binding patterns of c-FOS, c-JUN and SOX2, we find that they co-occupate the promoter of the SOCS3 locus, which we also have identified as a gene that rescues SOX2 deletion induced senescence when overexpressed in neurospheres grown from Sox2-deleted mouse NSCs. Taken together, our data provide a basis for elucidating a gene regulatory network necessary for the maintenance of self-renewal in post-embryonic neural stem cells.