Regulation of human growth and differentiation factor 3 gene expression by NANOG in human embryonic carcinoma NCCIT cells.

We investigated transactivation by NANOG in regulating growth and differentiation factor 3 (GDF3) expression in NCCIT cells. GDF3 expression was affected by shRNA-mediated downregulation and by exogenous overexpression of NANOG specifically, as well as by retinoic acid-mediated differentiation. GDF3 transcription was activated by NANOG, and the upstream region (-183 to -1) was sufficient to induce minimal transcriptional activity. Moreover, NANOG binds to the GDF3 minimal promoter in vivo and the transcriptional activity is mediated by NANOG transactivation domain. This study provides the first evidence that NANOG is a transcriptional activator of the expression of the oncogenic growth factor GDF3 in embryonic carcinoma cells.