High impact information on hhex

• IDX-1: a new homeodomain transcription factor expressed in rat pancreatic islets and duodenum that transactivates the somatostatin gene [1].
• These effects can occur in a cell non-autonomous manner, suggesting that one role of wild-type Hex is to specify anterior structures by suppressing signals that promote dorsal mesoderm formation [2].
• Transient transfection experiments in ES cells suggest that Goosecoid is a direct target of Hex [2].
• We find that Hex is a transcriptional repressor that can be converted to an activator by fusing full length Hex to two copies of the minimal transcriptional activation domain of VP16 together with the flexible hinge region of the (lambda) repressor (Hex-(lambda)VP2) [2].
• Retention of the entire Hex open reading frame allows one to examine Hex function without disrupting potential protein-protein interactions [2].

Biological context of hhex

• Suppression of dorsal mesoderm by Hex is accompanied by the down-regulation of Goosecoid and Chordin, while induction of dorsal mesoderm by Hex-(lambda)VP2 results in activation of these genes [2].

Anatomical context of hhex

• RESULTS: Xenopus anterior endoderm was found to derive in part from cells at the centre of the blastocoel floor that express XHex, the Xenopus cognate of Hex [3].
• The Hex/Prh homeobox gene is expressed in a subset of adult blood cell types and may play a role in the differentiation of the myeloid and B-cell lineages [4].

References