VAX1

VAX1
Identifiers
Aliases VAX1, MCOPS11, ventral anterior homeobox 1
External IDs OMIM: 604294 MGI: 1277163 HomoloGene: 7593 GeneCards: VAX1
Orthologs
Species Human Mouse
Entrez
Ensembl
UniProt
RefSeq (mRNA)

NM_199131
NM_001112704

NM_009501

RefSeq (protein)

NP_001106175
NP_954582

NP_033527

Location (UCSC) Chr 10: 117.13 – 117.14 Mb Chr 19: 59.15 – 59.16 Mb
PubMed search
Wikidata
View/Edit Human View/Edit Mouse

Ventral anterior homeobox 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the VAX1 gene.

Function

This gene appears to influence the development in humans of the forebrain. It is also present in mice and xenopus frogs, which suggests a long evolutionary history, and in those organisms its expression is confined to the forebrain, optic and olfactory areas.

VAX1 gene is a transcription factor that has a homeodomain located in the 100-159 amino acid position and an Ala–rich region located in 216-253 amino acid position of the gene. Expression studies in mice show that it is expressed in the palate, coloboma in the visual system, and the basal telencephalon, optic stalk, and visual eye fields where it is expressed along with the Shh and Bmp4 genes.

Clinical significance

Mice with homozygous VAX1 mutations have been reported to display craniofacial malformations including cleft palate.

Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) reported significant associations between non-syndromic clefts and SNPs in the VAX1 gene. Replication studies have confirmed these associations in different population groups