General Transcription Factor IIA, Polypeptide 1 Like Protein (GTF2A1L)

Synthesis of eukaryotic mRNA requires the assembly of RNA polymerase II and various general transcription factors, such as the TFIIA subunits alpha/beta (GTF2A1) and gamma (GTF2A2), which interact with the TATA-binding protein (TBP) and a separate 4-helix bundle positioned just upstream of the TBP-TATA complex. ALF is a germ cell-specific transcription factor with a domain structure similar to GTF2A1 .

In comparison with the organization of GTF2A1, ALF has conserved regions I and IV and acidic region III, but it has a distinct region II. Northern and dot blot analyses showed strong testis-restricted expression of a 1.8-kb ALF transcript, which differed from the widespread expression of GTF2A1 and GTF2A2. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed a 69-kD ALF protein.