FOX (forkhead box) proteins are a family of transcription factors that play important roles in regulating the expression of genes involved in cell growth , proliferation, differentiation , and longevity . Many FOX proteins are important to embryonic development. FOX proteins also have pioneering transcription activity by being able to bind condensed chromatin during cell differentiation processes.
4-431: The defining feature of FOX proteins is the forkhead box , a sequence of 80 to 100 amino acids forming a motif that binds to DNA . This forkhead motif is also known as the winged helix , due to the butterfly-like appearance of the loops in the protein structure of the domain. Forkhead proteins are a subgroup of the helix-turn-helix class of proteins. Many genes encoding FOX proteins have been identified. For example,
8-493: A unified nomenclature was introduced that grouped the FOX proteins into subclasses (FOXA-FOXS) based on sequence conservation. A member of the FOX family, FOXD2 , has been detected progressively overexpressed in human-papillomavirus -positive neoplastic keratinocytes derived from uterine cervical preneoplastic lesions at different levels of malignancy. For this reason, this gene is likely to be associated with tumorigenesis and may be
12-536: Is controlled by post-translational modifications , including phosphorylation , acetylation and ubiquitination . The founding member and namesake of the FOX family is the fork head transcription factor in Drosophila , discovered by German biologists Detlef Weigel and Herbert Jäckle. Since then a large number of family members have been discovered, especially in vertebrates . Originally, they were given vastly different names (such as HFH, FREAC, and fkh), but in 2000
16-570: The FOXF2 gene encodes forkhead box F2, one of many human homologues of the Drosophila melanogaster transcription factor forkhead. FOXF2 is expressed in the lung and placenta . Some FOX genes are downstream targets of the hedgehog signaling pathway , which plays a role in the development of basal cell carcinomas . Members of class O (FOXO- proteins) regulate metabolism, cellular proliferation, stress tolerance and possibly lifespan. The activity of FoxO
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