Transcription factor 12 (TCF12)

TCF12 is a member of the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) E-protein family that recognizes the consensus binding site (E-box) CANNTG. This encoded protein is expressed in many tissues, among them skeletal muscle, thymus, B- and T-cells, and may participate in regulating lineage-specific gene expression through the formation of heterodimers with other bHLH E-proteins. Several alternatively spliced transcript variants of this gene have been described, but the full-length nature of some of these variants has not been determined.

HEBAlt includes the bHLH domain and activation domain-2 (AD2) of canonical HEB (HEBCan), but it replaces AD1 with an alternative domain homologous to the N-terminal region of the ITF2A variant of ITF2 (TCF4).