Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2004;5(6):226.
doi: 10.1186/gb-2004-5-6-226. Epub 2004 May 28.

An overview of the basic helix-loop-helix proteins

Susan Jones  1
Affiliations
Review

An overview of the basic helix-loop-helix proteins

Susan Jones. Genome Biol. 2004.

Abstract

The basic helix-loop-helix proteins are dimeric transcription factors that are found in almost all eukaryotes. In animals, they are important regulators of embryonic development, particularly in neurogenesis, myogenesis, heart development and hematopoiesis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representative structures of bHLH proteins from the Protein Data Bank [22]. In each diagram, the protein is shown as a secondary-structure cartoon and the DNA double helix is shown in stick representation. (a) MyoD bHLH-domain homodimer (PDB code 1mdy). (b) Pho4 bHLH-domain homodimer (1am9). (c) SREBP-1a bHLH-domain homodimer (1aoaC). (d) Max-Mad heterodimer (1nlw). (e) Max-Myc heterodimer (1nkp). (f) Max-Myc heterotetramer (1nkp). In (d-f) the Max HLH monomer is shown in dark gray. The scales are not comparable between different structures.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Massari ME, Murre C. Helix-loop-helix proteins: regulators of transcription in eucaryotic organisms. Mol Cell Biol. 2000;20:429–440. doi: 10.1128/MCB.20.2.429-440.2000. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ledent V, Vervoort M. The basic helix-loop-helix protein family: comparative genomics and phylogenetic analysis. Genome Res. 2001;11:754–770. doi: 10.1101/gr.177001. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Robinson KA, Lopes JM. Saccharomyces cerevisiae basic helix-loop-helix proteins regulate diverse biological processes. Nucleic Acids Res. 2000;28:1499–1505. doi: 10.1093/nar/28.7.1499. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Moore AW, Barbel S, Jan LY, Jan YN. A genomewide survey of basic helix-loop-helix factors in Drosophila. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2000;97:10436–10441. doi: 10.1073/pnas.170301897. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Peyrefitte S, Kahn D, Haenlin M. New members of the Drosophila Myc transcription factor subfamily revealed by a genome-wide examination for basic helix-loop-helix genes. Mech Dev. 2001;104:99–104. doi: 10.1016/S0925-4773(01)00360-4. - DOI - PubMed

Substances

LinkOut - more resources