Background information
The Ovo family of zinc-finger transcription factors encode evolutionarily conserved genes including those from Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, mouse and human. Members of the Ovo family include Ovol1 and Ovol2. Ovol1 acts as a transcriptional repressor by interacting with key developmental signaling pathways such as Wnt and TGF-∫/BMP. Specifically, Ovol1 represses c-Myc and Id2 genes and establishes a balance between proliferation and differentiation of progenitor cells. Deletion of Ovol1 in mice leads to germ cell degeneration and defective sperm production in adult males. Ovol1 has also been shown to repress itself as well as Ovol2, which is thought to regulate neural development and vascular angiogenesis during embryogenesis.
