Calcium Response Factor (CARF)

ALS2CR8 is a nuclear transcription factor that binds to a calcium-response element, which they named CaRE1, within the BDNF promoter. Based on a variety of experiments with cultured cortical neurons, They concluded that the transcriptional activity of ALS2CR8 is regulated in a calcium- and neuron-selective manner. They hypothesized that ALS2CR8 may play a key role in neuronal development and plasticity. Northern blot analysis of adult mouse tissues detected low ALS2CR8 expression of a 5-kb transcript in several tissues with a high expression level in brain. A 3-kb transcript was detected at high levels in testis. In situ hybridization of mouse brain sections detected highest levels of ALS2CR8 expression in hippocampus, with lower levels of expression throughout the cortex and in the granule cells of the adult cerebellum.