The TOX gene encodes a protein that belongs to a large superfamily of chromatin associated proteins that share an approximately 75 amino acid DNA binding motif, the HMG (high mobility group)-box (named after that found in the canonical member of the family, high mobility group protein 1). Some high mobility group (HMG) box proteins (e.g., LEF1) contain a single HMG box motif and bind DNA in a sequence-specific manner, while other members of this family (e.g., HMGB1) have multiple HMG boxes and bind DNA in a sequence-independent but structure-dependent manner. While TOX has a single HMG-box motif,[5] it is predicted to bind DNA in a sequence-independent manner.[6] TOX is also a member of a small subfamily of proteins (TOX2, TOX3, and TOX4) that share almost identical HMG-box sequences.[6] TOX3 has been identified as a breast cancer susceptibility locus.[7][8] TOX is highly expressed in the thymus, the site of development of T lymphocytes. Knockout mice that lack TOX have a severe defect in development of certain subsets of T lymphocytes.[9]
^Nagase T, Ishikawa K, Suyama M, Kikuno R, Miyajima N, Tanaka A, Kotani H, Nomura N, Ohara O (Apr 1999). "Prediction of the coding sequences of unidentified human genes. XI. The complete sequences of 100 new cDNA clones from brain which code for large proteins in vitro". DNA Res. 5 (5): 277–86. doi:10.1093/dnares/5.5.277. PMID9872452.
^Wilkinson B, Chen JY, Han P, Rufner KM, Goularte OD, Kaye J (Mar 2002). "TOX: an HMG box protein implicated in the regulation of thymocyte selection". Nat Immunol. 3 (3): 272–80. doi:10.1038/ni767. PMID11850626.
Ota T, Suzuki Y, Nishikawa T, et al. (2004). "Complete sequencing and characterization of 21,243 full-length human cDNAs.". Nat. Genet. 36 (1): 40–5. doi:10.1038/ng1285. PMID14702039.
. PMID 12697058.
