Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 7, 2026

ZEB1

Zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ZEB1 gene.

Last revised
Jul 7, 2026
Read time
≈ 6 min
Length
1,308 w
Citations
17
Source
ZEB1
Available structures
PDBOrtholog search: PDBe RCSB
Identifiers
AliasesZEB1, zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1, AREB6, BZP, DELTAEF1, FECD6, NIL2A, PPCD3, TCF8, ZFHEP, ZFHX1A
External IDsOMIM: 189909; MGI: 1344313; HomoloGene: 31779; GeneCards: ZEB1; OMA:ZEB1 - orthologs
Orthologs
SpeciesHumanMouse
Entrez
Ensembl
UniProt
RefSeq (mRNA)

NM_011546
NM_001360981
NM_001360982

RefSeq (protein)

NP_035676
NP_001347910
NP_001347911

Location (UCSC)Chr 10: 31.32 – 31.53 MbChr 18: 5.59 – 5.78 Mb
PubMed search34
Wikidata
View/Edit HumanView/Edit Mouse

Zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ZEB1 gene.567

ZEB1 (previously known as TCF8) encodes a zinc finger and homeodomain transcription factor that represses T-lymphocyte-specific IL2 gene expression by binding to a negative regulatory domain 100 nucleotides 5-prime of the IL2 transcription start site.76 ZEB1 and its mammalian paralog ZEB2 belongs to the Zeb family within the ZF (zinc finger) class of homeodomain transcription factors. ZEB1 protein has seven zinc fingers and one homeodomain.8 The structure of the homeodomain is shown on the right.

Clinical significance

Mutations of the gene are linked to posterior polymorphous corneal dystrophy 3. ZEB1 downregulates E-cadherin and induces epithelial to mesenchymal transition in breast and other carcinomas9 A recent study suggested its contributing role in lung cancer invasiveness and metastasis development.10 Overexpression of ZEB1 has been identified as a potential risk factor for recurrence and poor prognosis in several types of cancers.11

References

References

  1. GRCh38: Ensembl release 89: ENSG00000148516Ensembl, May 2017
  2. GRCm38: Ensembl release 89: ENSMUSG00000024238Ensembl, May 2017
  3. "Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  4. "Mouse PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  5. Williams TM, Montoya G, Wu Y, Eddy RL, Byers MG, Shows TB (September 1992). "The TCF8 gene encoding a zinc finger protein (Nil-2-a) resides on human chromosome 10p11.2". Genomics. 14 (1): 194–6. doi:10.1016/S0888-7543(05)80307-6. PMID 1427828.
  6. Williams TM, Moolten D, Burlein J, Romano J, Bhaerman R, Godillot A, Mellon M, Rauscher FJ, Kant JA (December 1991). "Identification of a zinc finger protein that inhibits IL-2 gene expression". Science. 254 (5039): 1791–4. Bibcode:1991Sci...254.1791W. doi:10.1126/science.1840704. PMID 1840704.
  7. "Entrez Gene: ZEB1 zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1".
  8. Bürglin TR, Affolter M (July 2016). "Homeodomain proteins: an update". Chromosoma. 125 (3): 497–521. doi:10.1007/s00412-015-0543-8. PMC 4901127. PMID 26464018.
  9. Eger A, Aigner K, Sonderegger S, Dampier B, Oehler S, Schreiber M, Berx G, Cano A, Beug H, Foisner R (March 2005). "DeltaEF1 is a transcriptional repressor of E-cadherin and regulates epithelial plasticity in breast cancer cells". Oncogene. 24 (14): 2375–85. doi:10.1038/sj.onc.1208429. PMID 15674322.
  10. Liu W, Huang YJ, Liu C, Yang YY, Liu H, Cui JG, Cheng Y, Gao F, Cai JM, Li BL (April 2014). "Inhibition of TBK1 attenuates radiation-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition of A549 human lung cancer cells via activation of GSK-3β and repression of ZEB1". Laboratory Investigation; A Journal of Technical Methods and Pathology. 94 (4): 362–70. doi:10.1038/labinvest.2013.153. PMID 24468793.
  11. Lu J, Fei F, Wu C, Mei J, Xu J, Lu P (September 2022). "ZEB1: Catalyst of immune escape during tumor metastasis". Biomed Pharmacother. 153 113490. doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113490. PMID 36076506.
Further reading

Further reading

External links