TFAP2A

Transcription factor AP-2 alpha (Activating enhancer binding Protein 2 alpha), also known as TFAP2A, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TFAP2A gene.

Function

The AP-2 alpha protein acts as a sequence-specific DNA-binding transcription factor recognizing and binding to the specific DNA sequence and recruiting transcription machinery. Its binding site is a GC-rich sequence that is present in the cis-regulatory regions of several viral and cellular genes. AP2-alpha is a 52-kD retinoic acid-inducible and developmentally regulated activator of transcription that binds to a consensus DNA-binding sequence GCCNNNGGC in the SV40 and metallothionein promoters.

AP-2 alpha is expressed in neural crest cell lineages with the highest levels of expression corresponding to early neural crest cells, suggesting that AP-2 alpha plays a role in their differentiation and development. Transcription factor AP-2 alpha is expressed in ectoderm and in neural-crest cells migrating from the cranial folds during closure of the neural tube in the mouse. Cranial neural crest cell provides patterning information for craniofacial morphogenesis and generate most of the skull bones and the cranial ganglia.