POU3F2, also known as Brn2, is a transcription factor mainly expressed in the central nervous system. It contains mammal-specific base sequences encoding three stretches of homopolymeric amino acids and plays a crucial role in brain development [2,3]. It has been implicated in multiple biological pathways and is associated with various physiological functions and disease conditions. Genetic models, such as knockout mouse models, have been valuable in studying its functions.

In mouse models, Pou3f2⊿ mice exhibited deficits in reproductive performance and maternal behavior, specifically impairments in pup retrieval and exploratory behaviors in females [2]. Pou3f2Δ/Δ mice, with deletions in the transactivation domain, showed cognitive impairment in object recognition and object location tests, along with reduced adult hippocampal neurogenesis [3]. In triple-negative breast cancer, high expression of POU3F2 promoted radioresistance via Akt pathway activation by interacting with ARNT2 [1]. In glioblastoma, ITGA3 regulated stemness and invasion through POU3F2, and knocking down POU3F2 suppressed cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and inhibited the expression of stemness markers [4].

In conclusion, POU3F2 is essential for cognitive function, adult hippocampal neurogenesis, and maternal behavior in mice. In diseases, it plays a role in cancer-related processes such as radioresistance in triple-negative breast cancer and stemness and invasion in glioblastoma. The study of POU3F2 using knockout mouse models has provided insights into its functions in these biological processes and disease conditions [1,2,3,4].