Mammaliancelltotipotencyisasubjectthathasfascinatedscientistsforgenerations.AlonglastingquestionwhethersomeofthesomaticcellsretainstotipotencywasansweredbythecloningofDollyattheendofthe20thcentury.Thedawnofthe218thasbroughtforwardgreatexpectationsinharnessingthepoweroftotipotentcyinmedicine.Throughstemcellbiology,itispossibletogenerateanypartsofthehumanbodybystemcellengineering.Considerableresourceswillbedevotedtoharnesstheuntappedpotentialsofstemcellsintheforeseeablefuturewhichmaytransformmedicineasweknowtoday.Atthemolecularlevel,totipotencyhasbeenlinkedtoasingulartranscriptionfactoranditsexpressionappearstodefinewhetheracellshouldbetotipotent.NamedOct4,itcanactivateorrepresstheexpressionofvariousgenes.Curiously,verylittleisknownaboutOct4beyonditsabilitytoregulategeneexpression.ThemechanismbywhichOct4specifiestotipotencyremainsentirelyunresolved.Inthisreview,wesummarizerethestructureandfunctionofOct4andaddresstoOct4functioninmaintainingtotipotencyorpluripotencyofembryonicstemcels.
