关键词: Oct4基因, 脐带, 脐带血, 羊水, RT-PCR

Abstract: Oct4(Octamer-binding transcription factor 4, Oct4) was one of the markers used to evaluate pluripotency or undifferentiated status of stem cells.To investigate expression of the gene Oct4 in umbilical cord, umbilical cord blood and amniotic fluid from human, we analysed 20 samples from women of pregnancy stage or full-term delivery by semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR), respectively, and PCR products were sequenced and compared with the cDNA sequence of human-derived Oct4 published in GenBank to check specificity of PCR reaction.The RT-PCR results showed that homolog degree of RT-PCR amplified products with the cDNA sequence of human-derived Oct4 achieved to 98%, and Oct4 expressed positively in the samples of 95%(19/20) umbilical cord, 80%(16/20) umbilical cord blood, 90%(18/20) second-trimester amniotic fluid and 80%(16/20) third-trimester amniotic fluid.Expression levels of Oct4 exhibited no statistically significant differences in the umbilical cord, second-and third-trimester amniotic fluid(P<0.05), while significantly higher than in umbilical cord blood.These results suggested that Oct4 expressed in umbilical cord, umbilical blood and amniotic fluid from human, but the difference existed in different samples.

Key words: Oct4, umbilical cord, umbilical blood, amniotic fluid, RT-PCR