Octamer Binding Transcription Factor 2 (OCT2)

An understanding of development necessitates an understanding of the molecular mechanisms of cell type-specific gene expression. Using synthetic promoter constructions, it has been found that 2 sequences within immunoglobulin promoters are sufficient for lymphoid-specific promoter activity: an octamer, ATTTGCAT, and a TATA box. Staudt et al. (1988) isolated a cDNA which hybridized with mRNA transcripts that were largely restricted to lymphoid cells. The level of expression of the gene, termed OCT2, within different lymphoid cell lines correlated well with the amount of a nuclear factor called NFA2 that had previously been detected only in lymphoid cells. Ko et al. (1988) determined the DNA sequence of the OCT2 cDNA and showed that its gene product contains a homeobox.