KLF4/Klf4/Kruppel-like factor 4
Klf4 (Kruppel-like factor 4) is a member of the Kruppel-like family of conserved zinc finger transcription factors. Klf4 is expressed in a variety of tissues and plays an important role in many physiological processes, including proliferation, terminal differentiation, and apoptosis.
Depending on the gene targeted, Klf4 can either activate or repress transcription and, in certain cellular contexts, it can function as either an oncogene or a tumor suppressor. Klf4 has been found to be highly expressed in undifferentiated ES cells, with its expression decreasing dramatically during differentiation. Klf4 prevents embryonic stem cell differentiation by regulating Nanog gene expression and is essential for somatic cell reprogramming. Controlled expression of Klf4, together with Oct4 , Sox2 , and c-Myc, is able to reprogram adult human fibroblasts to become induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that are similar to ES cells.
Klf4 also plays critical roles in specification or function of differentiating epithelial cells. Induction of KLF4 in basal keratinocytes induces outgrowth of dysplastic lesions resembling squamous cell carcinoma in situ.
Klf4 transcripts are expressed in suprabasal cells of mouse skin and Klf4-deficient mice die from dehydration following birth, due to failure of the epidermal cells to form a permeability barrier.
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