Role of Oct-4 during acquisition of developmental competence in mouse oocyte

Knowledge of what determines the developmental competence of oocytes during folliculogenesis is poor. This review, through the analysis of the expression profile of developmentally competent or incompetent mouse oocytes, summarizes the results of recent studies showing that the Oct-4 transcription factor regulating the expression of Stella and Foxj2 at the Nanog locus could play a pivotal role in the establishment of the oocyte's developmental competence.