RFX3

RFX3

A gene on chromosome 9p24.2 that belongs to the regulatory factor X gene family, which encode transcription factors that contain a highly conserved winged-helix DNA-binding domain. RFX3 is structurally related to other regulatory factor (RF) family members—RFX1, RFX2, RFX4 and RFX5—and is a transcriptional activator that can bind DNA as a monomer or as a heterodimer with other RFX family members, binding specifically to the X-boxes of MHC class-II genes. The RFX3 protein product is a transcription factor essential for ciliogenesis and islet cell differentiation during endocrine pancreas development; it is required for governing growth and beating efficiency of motile cells and for ciliated ependymal cell differentiation.