Thymus High Mobility Group Box Protein (TOX)

TOX is a protein that belongs to a large superfamily of chromatin associated proteins that share an approximately 75 amino acid DNA binding motif, the HMG (high mobility group)-box (named after that found in the canonical member of the family, high mobility group protein 1). Some high mobility group (HMG) box proteins contain a single HMG box motif and bind DNA in a sequence-specific manner, while other members of this family have multiple HMG boxes and bind DNA in a sequence-independent but structure-dependent manner. While TOX has a single HMG-box motif, it is predicted to bind DNA in a sequence-independent manner. TOX is also a member of a small subfamily of proteins (TOX2, TOX3, and TOX4) that share almost identical HMG-box sequences.