SOX2 and cancer: During early mammalian embryonic development, the sex-determining region Y-related HMG box 2 (Sox2), which interacts with Oct4 and Nanog, activates genes involved in the maintenance of ESC pluripotency and inhibits differentiation genes.190,191 Sox2 is overexpressed in many types of cancer and is linked to the CSC sub-population.192 SETD7 methylates Sox2 at K119, which triggers its ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation and inhibits the interaction of Sox2 with other transcriptional co-activators, as well as Sox2 transcriptional activity.