Figure 1

Immunocytochemical analysis of OCT4 expression. (a-j) Adult human dermal fibroblasts (HUF1) were exposed to different synthetic mRNA (synRNA) concentrations to stabilize and promote homogenous OCT4 expression. Addition of 1 × or 4.5 × synRNA did not yield significantly higher OCT4 expression (b,d). Addition of B18R was added to assuage interferon (IFN) signaling, although 1 × and 3 × concentrations did not yield significant increases in OCT4 expression (c,e). 4.5 × mRNA at 520 ng and 3 × B18R at 600 ng/mL also did not yield significant stabilization of OCT4 (f). Small-molecule compounds of BX795 at low (0.001 µM) and high (1 µM) concentrations did yield robust expression of OCT4 (g and h, respectively). BAY11 at low (0.01 µM) and high (1 µM) concentrations also stabilized OCT4 to an even greater degree than BX795 (i and j, respectively). Scale bar represents 100 µM. DAPI (4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining is represented in blue; OCT4 staining is represented in green. BAY11, BAY 11-7082.