# Structure and Functionof Nanog in Stem Cell Pluripotency

> **NIH NIH R01** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2024 · $345,620

## Abstract

Project Summary
NANOG Structure and Function in Stem Cell Pluripotency
 NANOG directs access to stem cell pluripotency. There are considerable gaps in our
molecular understanding of how NANOG coordinates this process. This is also compounded by
the fact that NANOG (in particular, human NANOG) has been a challenging system to work
with. The investigators have successfully applied innovative fluorescence techniques to
characterize NANOG’s key structure and functional properties. NANOG is an intrinsically
disordered protein (IDP), with a prion-like domain critical for NANOG self-assembly and for
establishing contacts in pluripotency specific regions. NANOG is a ‘molecular hub’, reported to
interact with >100 transcription factors (TFs) and other proteins to form cooperative hub
condensates and coordinate activation of pluripotency genes and repression of differentiation
genes. The investigators will investigate and deconvolute how NANOG dose-sensitivity play a
role in chromatin looping and recruitment of TFs, co-activators, and epigenetic regulators. They
will use an intensive holistic combination of standard and innovative structural, molecular,
genomic and cell biology approaches. The first aim will elucidate NANOG’s dose-sensitivity
mechanism in establishing pluripotency by assessing chromatin reorganization and recruitment
of cofactors using Hi-C 3.0 and single molecule fluorescence techniques. The second aim will
probe the molecular elements (i.e., OCT4-SOX2-NANOG triad cooperativity and KLF4
biomolecular condensation) involved in activating NANOG expression. In addition, the aim will
investigate the molecular basis for NANOG autorepression. The last aim will focus on inhibition
of NANOG stabilization and oligomerization with dominant negative NANOG-based peptides.
These studies will provide unprecedented insights into how NANOG orchestrates establishment
of stem cell pluripotency and reversal of developmental aging.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10890841
- **Project number:** 5R01GM122763-07
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Josephine Chu Ferreon
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $345,620
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-01-01 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10890841

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10890841, Structure and Functionof Nanog in Stem Cell Pluripotency (5R01GM122763-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10890841. Licensed CC0.

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