Lidamycin induces neural differentiation of mouse embryonic carcinoma cells through down-regulation of transcription factor Oct4

► Low dose lidamycin induced neural differentiation in mouse P19 EC cells. ► A mechanism of lidamycin induced differentiation is through down-regulation of Oct4. ► Down-regulation of Oct4 by lidamycin caused activation of p21 gene expression. ► Lidamycin has its anti-cancer effect on inducing cell differentiation in P19 cells.