OLIG2

OLIG2
Identifiers
Aliases	OLIG2, BHLHB1, OLIGO2, PRKCBP2, RACK17, bHLHe19, oligodendrocyte lineage transcription factor 2, oligodendrocyte transcription factor 2
External IDs	OMIM: 606386; MGI: 1355331; HomoloGene: 4241; GeneCards: OLIG2; OMA:OLIG2 - orthologs
Gene location (Human)
Chr.	Chromosome 21 (human)
End	33,029,196 bp
Gene location (Mouse)
Chr.	Chromosome 16 (mouse)
End	91,025,565 bp
RNA expression pattern
	Top expressed in
	inferior ganglion of vagus nerve; ; globus pallidus; ; internal globus pallidus; ; Amygdala; ; ventral tegmental area; ; subthalamic nucleus; ; external globus pallidus; ; substantia nigra; ; C1 segment; ; hippocampus proper;
	Top expressed in
	lumbar subsegment of spinal cord; ; medial ganglionic eminence; ; optic nerve; ; white matter of cerebellum; ; deep cerebellar nuclei; ; respiratory epithelium; ; olfactory epithelium; ; lateral geniculate nucleus; ; anterior horn of spinal cord; ; ventral tegmental area;
	More reference expression data
	; ;
	More reference expression data
Gene ontology
Molecular function	DNA binding; protein dimerization activity; protein homodimerization activity; DNA-binding transcription factor activity; HMG box domain binding; transcription factor activity, RNA polymerase II distal enhancer sequence-specific binding; DNA-binding transcription factor activity, RNA polymerase II-specific;
Cellular component	cytoplasm; nucleus;
Biological process	positive regulation of oligodendrocyte differentiation; regulation of transcription, DNA-templated; negative regulation of neuron differentiation; thalamus development; spinal cord oligodendrocyte cell fate specification; oligodendrocyte differentiation; negative regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II; transcription, DNA-templated; nervous system development; multicellular organism development; oligodendrocyte cell fate specification; neuron differentiation; myelination; neuron fate commitment; spinal cord motor neuron differentiation; spinal cord oligodendrocyte cell differentiation;
	Sources:Amigo / QuickGO
Orthologs
	10215
	50913
	ENSG00000205927
	ENSMUSG00000039830
	Q13516
	Q9EQW6
	NM_005806
	NM_016967
	NP_005797
	NP_058663
	Wikidata
View/Edit Human	View/Edit Mouse

Oligodendrocyte transcription factor (OLIG2) is a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor encoded by the OLIG2 gene. The protein is of 329 amino acids in length, 32 kDa in size and contains one basic helix-loop-helix DNA-binding domain. It is one of the three members of the bHLH family. The other two members are OLIG1 and OLIG3. The expression of OLIG2 is mostly restricted in central nervous system, where it acts as both an anti-neurigenic and a neurigenic factor at different stages of development. OLIG2 is well known for determining motor neuron and oligodendrocyte differentiation, as well as its role in sustaining replication in early development. It is mainly involved in diseases such as brain tumor and Down syndrome.