Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 6 Beta (HNF6b)

Tissue-specific transcription is regulated in part by cell type-restricted proteins that bind to defined sequences in target genes. The DNA-binding domain of these proteins is often evolutionarily conserved; on this basis, liver-enriched transcription factors have been classified into various families. See, for example, HNF3A and HNF1A . A similar bipartite sequence had been found only in the genome of Caenorhabditis elegans. The HNF6 cDNA encodes a deduced protein of 465 amino acids. By RNase protection assay, the expression of HNF6 was found to be highest in liver, but was also detectable in brain, spleen, and testis.HNF6 is important not only for the regulation of a wide variety of genes expressed in hepatocytes and, putatively, intestinal epithelium, but also for the inception of gut endoderm-derived organs via activation of the HNF3B protein.