Nuclear actin activates human transcription factor genes including the OCT4 gene

RNA microarray analyses revealed that nuclear actin activated many human transcription factor genes including OCT4, which is required for gene reprogramming. OCT4 is known to be activated by nuclear actin in Xenopus oocytes. Our findings imply that this process of OCT4 activation is conserved in vertebrates and among cell types, and could be used for gene reprogramming of human cells. HeLa cells expressed EYFP-actin or EYFP-NLS-actin were cultured at 48 hour. Total RNAs were extracted and subjected to microarray analysis.