OAC2 is an Oct4 activator which activates expression through the Oct4 gene promoter; enhances reprogramming efficiency by increasing the rate of production of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from embryonic fibroblasts; an analog of OAC1.

Octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct4) is vital for cellular pluripotency initiation and maintenance, playing indispensable roles in the early differentiation stages. It uniquely cannot be replaced by any family members in inducing pluripotency[1]. Essential for embryonic stem cell (ESC) pluripotency and critical in reprogramming, Oct4, alongside Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc, benefits from the structural analog OAC2—a counterpart of OAC1—that equally activates Oct4 and Nanog reporters. OAC1, along with its analogs OAC2 and OAC3, significantly boosts reprogramming efficiency by four times to as much as 2.75%, and hastens iPSC colony emergence by 3 to 4 days[2].

The Oct4-luc or Nanog-luc cells are treated with compound OAC1 or its structural analogs OAC2, OAC3 at 1 μM concentration or at indicated concentrations. Other compounds used include 2 μM BIO, 2 μM BIX, 2 μM 5'-azacytidine, 25 μg/mL Vitamin C, 10 nM Am580, 5 μM tranylcypromine, and 0.5 mM valporic acid. Luciferase reporter assays are performed 24 h after compound treatment or at indicated time points. For Topflash reporter assays, 0.2 μg β-catenin–responsive Topflash reporter gene plasmid is introduced into CV1 cells using trasfection. Compounds are added 6 h after transfection. Luciferase activity is measured 48 h after compound treatment using the Glo Luciferase Assay System[2].