SRY-box 7 is a

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

that in humans is encoded by the SOX7

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

Function

This gene encodes a member of the

SOX Sox most often refers to: * Boston Red Sox, an MLB team * Chicago White Sox, an MLB team * An alternate spelling of socks Sox may also refer to: Places * SOX, Sogamoso Airport's IATA airport code, an airport in Colombia Computing and technolo ...

(SRY-related HMG-box) family of

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 fu ...

s involved in the regulation of

embryonic development An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sperm ...

and in the determination of the

cell fate Within the field of developmental biology, one goal is to understand how a particular cell develops into a final cell type, known as fate determination. Within an embryo, several processes play out at the cellular and tissue level to create an organ ...

. The encoded protein may act as a transcriptional regulator after forming a protein complex with other proteins. The protein may play a role in

tumorigenesis Carcinogenesis, also called oncogenesis or tumorigenesis, is the formation of a cancer, whereby normal cells are transformed into cancer cells. The process is characterized by changes at the cellular, genetic, and epigenetic levels and abno ...

. A similar protein in mice is involved in the regulation of the wingless-type MMTV integration site family (Wnt) pathway. rovided by RefSeq, Jul 2008 SOX7 is a transcription factor that comes from the SRY-related HMG-Box family of transcription factors. These factors play a significant developmental role in regulating processes such as hematopoiesis, vasculogenesis, and cardiogenesis during the development of the embryo. Additionally, SOX7 is unique as it has been shown to also have tumor-suppressive effects, and downregulation of this gene has been seen in many forms of cancer. SOX7 as well as SOX17 and SOX18 have been known to work together to play a significant role in cardiovascular development, but continued research continues to identify SOX7 as playing a significant role in cancerous tumor suppression. Scientists discovered that the homozygous deletion of the second exon in SOX7 was embryonically lethal, and a heterozygous deletion resulted in a congenital diaphragmatic hernia forming. Continued research needs to be done to fully understand the mechanism behind SOX7’s tumor-suppressing characteristics, and hopefully, utilize that to find new and improved cancer treatments for the future. Overall SOX7 is a very interesting gene that plays a significant role in a variety of vital processes embryonically and postnatally and understanding the mechanisms for how this SRY family gene interacts with its surrounding tissues and cells can lead to better treatments for defects within SOX7 in the future.

References

Stovall, Daniel B et al. “SOX7: from a developmental regulator to an emerging tumor suppressor.” Histology and histopathology vol. 29,4 (2014): 439-45. doi:10.14670/HH-29.10.439

Function

References

Further reading