Forkhead transcription factors: key players in health and disease

摘要: Forkhead box (FOX) proteins constitute an evolutionarily conserved family of transcription factors with a central role not only during development, but also in the adult organism. Thus, misregulation and/or mutation FOX genes often induce human genetic diseases, promote cancer or deregulate ageing. Indeed, germinal gene mutations cause diseases ranging from infertility to language speech disorders and immunological defects. Moreover, because their signalling pathways regulation homeostasis, somatic are associated cancer. have undergone diversification terms sequence, function. In addition dedicated roles, evidence suggests that retained some functional redundancy. combinations slightly defective alleles might disease phenotypes humans, acting as quantitative trait loci. Uncovering such variants would be big step towards understanding interdependencies different members implications complex pathologies.