Iroquois homeobox factors are a family of

homeodomain A homeobox is a DNA sequence, around 180 base pairs long, that regulates large-scale anatomical features in the early stages of embryonic development. For instance, mutations in a homeobox may change large-scale anatomical features of the full ...

transcription factor In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding to a specific DNA sequence. The f ...

s that play a role in many

developmental Development of the human body is the process of growth to maturity. The process begins with fertilization, where an egg released from the ovary of a female is penetrated by a sperm cell from a male. The resulting zygote develops through mitosi ...

processes. The loci were named for the flies carrying mutations in one of these genes, which are devoid of all bristles in the lateral part of the notum, leaving only a median stripe of bristles, similar to the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

tribes which shaved all but a medial stripe of hairs on the head. Human genes that encode Iroquois homeobox factors include: * IrxA sub-group:

IRX1 Iroquois-class homeodomain protein IRX-1, also known as Iroquois homeobox protein 1, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''IRX1'' gene. All members of the Iroquois (IRO) family of proteins share two highly conserved features, encoding ...

IRX2 Iroquois-class homeodomain protein IRX-2, also known as Iroquois homeobox protein 2, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''IRX2'' gene. Function IRX2 is a member of the Iroquois homeobox factor, Iroquois homeobox gene family. Members ...

, IRX4 * IrxB sub-group: IRX3,

IRX5 Iroquois-class homeodomain protein IRX-5, also known as Iroquois homeobox protein 5, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''IRX5'' gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the ...

, IRX6 * Iroquois-like gene:

MKX Homeobox protein Mohawk, also known as iroquois homeobox protein-like 1, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MKX'' (mohawk homeobox) gene. MKX is a member of an Iroquois (IRX) family-related class of 'three-amino acid loop extension' ...

References

{{Transcription factors, g3 Developmental genes and proteins Transcription factors