Topic summary
Homeodomain
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Homeobox.
Biological function
Homeodomain proteins function as transcription factors due to the DNA binding properties of the conserved HTH motif. Homeodomain proteins are considered to be master control genes, meaning that a single protein can regulate expression of many target genes. Homeodomain proteins direct the formation of the body axes and body structures during early embryonic development. Many homeodomain proteins induce cellular differentiation by initiating the cascades of coregulated genes required to produce individual tissues and organs. Other proteins in the family, such as NANOG are involved in maintaining pluripotency and preventing cell differentiation.