Ss. Wang et al., THE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE OLF-1 EBF-LIKE HLH TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR FAMILY - IMPLICATIONS IN OLFACTORY GENE-REGULATION AND NEURONAL DEVELOPMENT/, The Journal of neuroscience, 17(11), 1997, pp. 4149-4158
The Olf-1/EBF helix-loop-helix (HLH) transcription factor has been imp
licated in olfactory gene regulation and in B-cell development. Using
homology screening methods, we identified two additional Olf-1/EBF-lik
e cDNAs from a mouse embryonic cDNA library. The Olf-1/EBF-like (O/E)
proteins O/E-1, O/E-2, and O/E-3 define a family of transcription fact
ors that share structural similarities and biochemical activities. Alt
hough these O/E genes are expressed within olfactory epithelium in an
identical pattern, they exhibit different patterns of expression in th
e developing nervous system. Although O/E-1 mRNA is present in several
tissues in addition to olfactory neurons and developing B-cells, O/E-
2 and O/E-3 are expressed at high levels only in olfactory tissue. In
O/E-1 knock-out animals, the presence of two additional O/E family mem
bers in olfactory neurons may provide redundancy and allow normal olfa
ctory neurodevelopment. Further, the identification of the O/E family
of HLH transcription factors and their embryonic expression patterns s
uggest that the O/E proteins may have a more general function in neuro
nal development.