TEF

gene
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Also known as KIAA1655

Summary

TEF (TEF transcription factor, PAR bZIP family member, HGNC:11722) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 22q13.2, encoding Thyrotroph embryonic factor (Q10587). Transcription factor that binds to and transactivates the TSHB promoter.

This gene encodes a member of the PAR (proline and acidic amino acid-rich) subfamily of basic region/leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors. It is expressed in a broad range of cells and tissues in adult animals, however, during embryonic development, TEF expression appears to be restricted to the developing anterior pituitary gland, coincident with the appearance of thyroid-stimulating hormone, beta (TSHB). Indeed, TEF can bind to, and transactivate the TSHB promoter. It shows homology (in the functional domains) with other members of the PAR-bZIP subfamily of transcription factors, which include albumin D box-binding protein (DBP), human hepatic leukemia factor (HLF) and chicken vitellogenin gene-binding protein (VBP); VBP is considered the chicken homologue of TEF. Different members of the subfamily can readily form heterodimers, and share DNA-binding, and transcriptional regulatory properties. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.

Source: NCBI Gene 7008 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

  • GWAS associations: 16
  • Clinical variants (ClinVar): 21 total
  • Transcription factor: yes — 22 downstream targets (CollecTRI)
  • MANE Select transcript: NM_003216

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

FieldValue
HGNC IDHGNC:11722
Approved symbolTEF
NameTEF transcription factor, PAR bZIP family member
Location22q13.2
Locus typegene with protein product
StatusApproved
AliasesKIAA1655
Ensembl geneENSG00000167074
Ensembl biotypeprotein_coding
OMIM188595
Entrez7008

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 4 — 4 protein_coding

ENST00000266304, ENST00000406644, ENST00000413942, ENST00000958295

RefSeq mRNA: 2 — MANE Select: NM_003216 NM_001145398, NM_003216

CCDS: CCDS14014, CCDS46716

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000266304 — 4 exons

ExonStartEnd
ENSE000006557544138735141387668
ENSE000006557624139409641394316
ENSE000018608324138194241382201
ENSE000019398754139574541399326

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth ubiquitous, 269 present calls, max score 95.20.

FANTOM5 (CAGE): breadth ubiquitous, TPM avg 13.6182 / max 218.6348, expressed in 1722 samples.

FANTOM5 promoters (6 alternative TSS)

Promoter IDTPM avgSamples expressed
19247211.30041716
1924701.8938374
1924670.185354
1924680.083745
1924690.078743
1924710.076340

Top tissues by expression

298 total, by Bgee expression score (0-100, higher = more expressed):

TissueAnatomy IDExpression scoreQuality
cerebellar hemisphereUBERON:000224595.20gold quality
right hemisphere of cerebellumUBERON:001489095.19gold quality
cerebellar cortexUBERON:000212995.11gold quality
right frontal lobeUBERON:000281093.75gold quality
cerebellumUBERON:000203793.69gold quality
nucleus accumbensUBERON:000188293.61gold quality
lateral globus pallidusUBERON:000247692.83gold quality
parietal lobeUBERON:000187292.78gold quality
postcentral gyrusUBERON:000258192.60gold quality
parotid glandUBERON:000183192.56gold quality
lateral nuclear group of thalamusUBERON:000273692.44gold quality
caudate nucleusUBERON:000187392.19gold quality
mucosa of stomachUBERON:000119991.61gold quality
putamenUBERON:000187491.53gold quality
prefrontal cortexUBERON:000045191.46gold quality
superior frontal gyrusUBERON:000266190.94gold quality
entorhinal cortexUBERON:000272890.78gold quality
dorsolateral prefrontal cortexUBERON:000983490.50gold quality
temporal lobeUBERON:000187190.41gold quality
inferior vagus X ganglionUBERON:000536390.19gold quality
amygdalaUBERON:000187690.17gold quality
superior vestibular nucleusUBERON:000722790.08gold quality
ponsUBERON:000098889.98gold quality
cingulate cortexUBERON:000302789.97gold quality
frontal cortexUBERON:000187089.90gold quality
telencephalonUBERON:000189389.90gold quality
frontal lobeUBERON:001652589.87gold quality
anterior cingulate cortexUBERON:000983589.86gold quality
ventral tegmental areaUBERON:000269189.81gold quality
Brodmann (1909) area 9UBERON:001354089.77gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

Detected in 3 experiment(s), a significant marker in 1.

ExperimentMarker?Max mean expression
E-ANND-3yes6.51
E-GEOD-98556no75.61
E-MTAB-7249no15.62

Regulation

Is transcription factor: yes

Downstream targets (CollecTRI)

22 targets.

TargetRegulation
ACTA1
ADAM2
ALBActivation
BCL2
CAD
CD74
CHRNB1
CXCL8
DBPUnknown
EIF3K
HEXIM1
HSPA4
LMO2Activation
MYH11
MYH13
MYH6
MYH7
MYLK
NPPBUnknown
PER2
TNF
TSHB

JASPAR motifs

MotifNameFamily
MA0843.1TEFCEBP-related
MA0843.2TEFCEBP-related

JASPAR matrix evidence (PMIDs): PMID:25215497

miRNA regulators (miRDB)

159 targeting TEF, top 30 by miRDB confidence (max_score; target_count = how many genes the miRNA targets in total — lower means more specific):

miRNAMax scoreAvg scoremiRNA target_count
HSA-MIR-4510100.0066.602050
HSA-MIR-6127100.0066.762188
HSA-MIR-6129100.0066.462080
HSA-MIR-6130100.0066.692012
HSA-MIR-6133100.0066.482064
HSA-MIR-6833-3P100.0070.633197
HSA-MIR-4692100.0067.322066
HSA-MIR-518D-5P100.0067.51979
HSA-MIR-518E-5P100.0067.66954
HSA-MIR-518F-5P100.0067.51979
HSA-MIR-519A-5P100.0067.66954
HSA-MIR-519B-5P100.0067.66954
HSA-MIR-519C-5P100.0067.66954
HSA-MIR-520C-5P100.0067.51979
HSA-MIR-522-5P100.0067.66954
HSA-MIR-523-5P100.0067.66954
HSA-MIR-526A-5P100.0067.51979
HSA-MIR-4768-5P100.0069.492861
HSA-MIR-4776-3P100.0068.731340
HSA-MIR-451499.9967.101870
HSA-MIR-32-5P99.9875.211964
HSA-MIR-92A-3P99.9875.211960
HSA-MIR-92B-3P99.9875.251955
HSA-MIR-367-3P99.9874.831819
HSA-MIR-25-3P99.9874.601817
HSA-MIR-363-3P99.9874.721821
HSA-MIR-477599.9875.006394
HSA-MIR-548AA99.9670.643753
HSA-MIR-548AP-3P99.9670.643753
HSA-MIR-548T-3P99.9670.643753

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 10)

  • TEF-expressing cells accumulated in G(0)/G(1) phase without undergoing apoptosis. (PMID:15665112)
  • evidence of TEF regulation through a miR-125b-mediated pathway (PMID:21347262)
  • the TT genotype in Tef rs738499 is associated with sleep disturbances in Parkinson disease. (PMID:22257907)
  • The polymorphism of Tef rs738499 is associated with depression symptoms in parkinson disease. (PMID:23138696)
  • findings show the polymorphisms of Cry1 rs2287161 and Tef rs738499 are associated to major depressive disorder in the Chinese population (PMID:24581835)
  • Resequencing three candidate genes (HOMER1, SLC6A4, and TEF) discovers seven potentially deleterious variants susceptibility to major depressive disorder and suicide attempts in Chinese. (PMID:27964944)
  • TEF is downregulated in bladder cancer and correlates with poor patient survival. (PMID:30515906)
  • Characterization of rearrangements in pediatric B-lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma by mate-pair sequencing (MPseq) identified a novel TCF3/TEF gene fusion. (PMID:31575852)
  • Evaluation of ASPM and TEF Gene Expressions as Potential Biomarkers for Bladder Cancer. (PMID:32274607)
  • Thyrotroph embryonic factor polymorphism predicts faster progression of Parkinson’s disease in a longitudinal study. (PMID:33834695)

Cross-species orthologs

9 orthologs

OrganismSymbolGene ID
danio_reriotefaENSDARG00000039117
danio_reriotefbENSDARG00000098103
danio_rerioENSDARG00000111269
mus_musculusTefENSMUSG00000022389
rattus_norvegicusTefENSRNOG00000019383
drosophila_melanogasterPdp1FBGN0016694
drosophila_melanogasterCG7786FBGN0034096
caenorhabditis_elegansWBGENE00011130
caenorhabditis_elegansWBGENE00017535

Paralogs (2): DBP (ENSG00000105516), HLF (ENSG00000108924)

Protein

Protein identifiers

Thyrotroph embryonic factorQ10587 (reviewed: Q10587)

All UniProt accessions (3): B4DIH3, Q10587, H0Y797

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Transcription factor that binds to and transactivates the TSHB promoter. Binds to a minimal DNA-binding sequence 5’-[TC][AG][AG]TTA[TC][AG]-3'.

Subunit / interactions. Binds DNA as a homodimer or a heterodimer. Can form a heterodimer with DBP.

Subcellular location. Nucleus.

Induction. Accumulates according to a robust circadian rhythm.

Similarity. Belongs to the bZIP family. PAR subfamily.

Isoforms (2)

UniProt IDNamesCanonical?
Q10587-11yes
Q10587-22

RefSeq proteins (2): NP_001138870, NP_003207* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

IDNameType
IPR004827bZIPDomain
IPR040223PAR_bZIPFamily
IPR046347bZIP_sfHomologous_superfamily

Pfam: PF07716

UniProt features (12 total): region of interest 4, compositionally biased region 2, chain 1, domain 1, sequence conflict 1, helix 1, modified residue 1, splice variant 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

1 structures.

PDBMethodResolution (Å)
4U5TX-RAY DIFFRACTION3.3

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

ModelpLDDTFraction very-high
AF-Q10587-F174.460.42

Functional residue map

Curated UniProt residues grouped by drug-discovery relevance — catalytic, ligand-binding, modification, and mutation-validated positions. Source: UniProtKB sequence features.

Post-translational modifications (1): 32

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

0 pathways

MSigDB gene sets: 203 (showing top): TGCGCANK_UNKNOWN, GCANCTGNY_MYOD_Q6, ACEVEDO_NORMAL_TISSUE_ADJACENT_TO_LIVER_TUMOR_DN, AREB6_01, MEF2_02, AAAYRNCTG_UNKNOWN, USF_C, CAGCTG_AP4_Q5, SP1_Q2_01, JOHANSSON_BRAIN_CANCER_EARLY_VS_LATE_DN, SHETH_LIVER_CANCER_VS_TXNIP_LOSS_PAM6, BRN2_01, USF_01, PPAR_DR1_Q2, HIF1_Q3

GO Biological Process (4): regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II (GO:0006357), positive regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II (GO:0045944), rhythmic process (GO:0048511), regulation of DNA-templated transcription (GO:0006355)

GO Molecular Function (7): RNA polymerase II cis-regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding (GO:0000978), DNA-binding transcription factor activity, RNA polymerase II-specific (GO:0000981), sequence-specific double-stranded DNA binding (GO:1990837), DNA binding (GO:0003677), double-stranded DNA binding (GO:0003690), DNA-binding transcription factor activity (GO:0003700), protein binding (GO:0005515)

GO Cellular Component (2): chromatin (GO:0000785), nucleus (GO:0005634)

GO top-level categories

Rollup of top GO terms by namespace:

CategoryTerms
regulation of DNA-templated transcription2
transcription by RNA polymerase II2
regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II2
RNA polymerase II transcription regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding2
positive regulation of DNA-templated transcription1
biological_process1
DNA-templated transcription1
regulation of gene expression1
regulation of RNA biosynthetic process1
cis-regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding1
chromatin1
DNA-binding transcription factor activity1
double-stranded DNA binding1
sequence-specific DNA binding1
nucleic acid binding1
DNA binding1
transcription cis-regulatory region binding1
transcription regulator activity1
binding1
chromosome1
cellular anatomical structure1
intracellular membrane-bounded organelle1

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

986 interactions, top by confidence (×1000):

Protein AProtein BPartner UniProtScore
TEFPDXKO00764832
TEFTSHBP01222752
TEFBMAL1O00327737
TEFNR1D1P20393729
TEFPER3P56645713
TEFPER2O15055712
TEFCRY1Q16526703
TEFNR1D2Q14995688
TEFCRY2Q49AN0662
TEFNPAS2Q99743645
TEFCLOCKO15516625
TEFCIARTQ8N365566
TEFSRPX2O60687549
TEFTLE6Q9H808543
TEFTLE2Q04725541

IntAct

42 interactions, top by confidence:

ABTypeScore
NFE2L2TEFpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.630
MRPL28TEFpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.560
TEFMRPL28psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.560
TEFDNM2psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.560
TEFpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.400
rpoBTEFpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
TEFnusApsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
TEFmanBpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
TEFbipApsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
TEFpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
TEFsasP1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
TEFrpoBpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
TEFargS1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
parETEFpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
TEFnadCpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
flaVTEFpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
mtfATEFpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
ubiGTEFpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
TEFglnGpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
TEFpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000

BioGRID (7): MRPL28 (Two-hybrid), TEF (Affinity Capture-RNA), TEF (Two-hybrid), TEF (Affinity Capture-Western), TEF (FRET), TEF (Affinity Capture-MS), TEF (Affinity Capture-MS)

ESM2 similar proteins: A6ZJ71, B8NNN3, G5ECU7, G5EDE9, G5EDW7, G5EFT5, G5EGF4, H2L0N3, O02039, O17862, P22293, P22980, P27610, P30651, P34522, P40650, P41224, P45972, P46582, P48987, P97516, Q09664, Q10587, Q16534, Q18171, Q18221, Q18412, Q18909, Q20435, Q22812, Q23272, Q2UMT9, Q3BJS3, Q60ZS1, Q64709, Q66JF1, Q6CQB7, Q6FJQ9, Q6FU75, Q8BW74

Diamond homologs: A0A5F9ZHS7, O08750, P16443, P41224, P97516, Q08D88, Q10586, Q10587, Q16534, Q16649, Q32PF6, Q5FW38, Q60925, Q64709, Q66J36, Q68EL6, Q6IMZ0, Q8BW74, Q90Z72, Q92172, Q94126, Q9JLC6

SIGNOR signaling

1 interactions.

AEffectBMechanism
TEFunknownNPPB“transcriptional regulation”

Disease & clinical

Clinical variants and AI predictions

ClinVar

21 variants total. Per-class counts are floors (≥ shown; pagination cap):

ClassificationCount (floor)
Pathogenic0
Likely pathogenic0
Uncertain significance18
Likely benign0
Benign0

Top pathogenic / likely-pathogenic (0)

SpliceAI

634 predictions. Top by Δscore:

VariantEffectΔscore
22:41387583:G:Tdonor_gain1.0000
22:41394091:TTTA:Tacceptor_loss1.0000
22:41394092:TTAG:Tacceptor_loss1.0000
22:41394094:A:AGacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41394094:A:Gacceptor_loss1.0000
22:41394095:G:GAacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41394095:GA:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41394095:GAA:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41394095:GAAT:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41394095:GAATC:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41394313:GAAG:Gdonor_gain1.0000
22:41394315:AG:Adonor_loss1.0000
22:41394316:GGTAA:Gdonor_loss1.0000
22:41394317:GTA:Gdonor_loss1.0000
22:41395740:CACA:Cacceptor_loss1.0000
22:41395742:CA:Cacceptor_loss1.0000
22:41395743:A:ACacceptor_loss1.0000
22:41395743:A:AGacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41395743:AG:Aacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41395743:AGGAT:Aacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41395744:G:GGacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41395744:GG:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41395744:GGA:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41395744:GGAT:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41395744:GGATG:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
22:41395901:G:GTdonor_gain1.0000
22:41387497:GA:Gdonor_gain0.9900
22:41387583:G:GTdonor_gain0.9900
22:41387664:CACAG:Cdonor_loss0.9900
22:41387665:ACAGG:Adonor_loss0.9900

AlphaMissense

1968 scored. Top likely-pathogenic:

VariantProtein changeam_pathogenicity
22:41387440:T:AW83R1.000
22:41387440:T:CW83R1.000
22:41387442:G:CW83C1.000
22:41387442:G:TW83C1.000
22:41387495:T:CL101P1.000
22:41387503:T:CF104L1.000
22:41387504:T:CF104S1.000
22:41387504:T:GF104C1.000
22:41387505:C:AF104L1.000
22:41387505:C:GF104L1.000
22:41387507:T:CL105P1.000
22:41394221:T:CF201L1.000
22:41394222:T:CF201S1.000
22:41394222:T:GF201C1.000
22:41394223:C:AF201L1.000
22:41394223:C:GF201L1.000
22:41394228:C:AP203H1.000
22:41394228:C:GP203R1.000
22:41394242:T:CF208L1.000
22:41394243:T:CF208S1.000
22:41394243:T:GF208C1.000
22:41394244:T:AF208L1.000
22:41394244:T:GF208L1.000
22:41394258:T:CL213P1.000
22:41394263:C:TP215S1.000
22:41394278:A:GK220E1.000
22:41394280:A:CK220N1.000
22:41394280:A:TK220N1.000
22:41394281:A:GK221E1.000
22:41394283:G:CK221N1.000

dbSNP variants (sampled 300 via entrez): RS1000049537 (22:41389638 T>G), RS1000124450 (22:41370210 GT>G), RS1000168429 (22:41366400 C>A,G,T), RS1000275310 (22:41370096 CTTTCT>C), RS1000343381 (22:41384157 T>A), RS1000402728 (22:41368916 C>T), RS1000452973 (22:41394023 T>C), RS1000460870 (22:41374831 G>A), RS1000524316 (22:41388331 T>C), RS1000635049 (22:41373309 A>C,G), RS1000639352 (22:41374177 G>A), RS1000748334 (22:41375137 G>A), RS1000786851 (22:41399229 G>A), RS1000820751 (22:41388402 A>C), RS1000830588 (22:41388671 A>C,G)

Disease associations

OMIM: gene MIM:188595 | disease phenotypes:

GenCC curated gene-disease

Mondo (0):

Orphanet (0):

HPO phenotypes

0 total (0 of 0 shown, HPO-id order):

GWAS associations

16 associations (top):

StudyTraitp-value
GCST003043_197Inflammatory bowel disease3.000000e-06
GCST003044_35Crohn’s disease2.000000e-10
GCST004521_55Autism spectrum disorder or schizophrenia9.000000e-09
GCST004632_82Lymphocyte percentage of white cells2.000000e-09
GCST004785_25Vitiligo3.000000e-15
GCST005232_52Neuroticism3.000000e-18
GCST005531_74Multiple sclerosis1.000000e-06
GCST008529_37Tea consumption1.000000e-07
GCST010002_83Refractive error2.000000e-27
GCST010133_13Lamb consumption3.000000e-08
GCST010143_2Meat-related diet4.000000e-08
GCST010769_1Asthma (time to event)2.000000e-08
GCST011124_12Caffeine consumption from tea2.000000e-10
GCST90002389_490Lymphocyte percentage of white cells3.000000e-27
GCST90002396_93Mean reticulocyte volume7.000000e-11
GCST90002399_104Neutrophil percentage of white cells2.000000e-23

EFO canonical traits (7, from GWAS)

EFO IDTrait name
EFO:0007993lymphocyte percentage of leukocytes
EFO:0007660neuroticism measurement
EFO:0010091tea consumption measurement
EFO:0008111diet measurement
EFO:0004918age at diagnosis
EFO:0010701mean reticulocyte volume
EFO:0007990neutrophil percentage of leukocytes

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: no

PharmGKB: 1 entry (VIP=true, CPIC=false)

CTD chemical–gene interactions

37 total (human), top 30 by PubMed support.

ChemicalActions (top 5)PubMed papers
Valproic Acidaffects cotreatment, decreases expression, affects expression6
Benzo(a)pyrenedecreases expression, decreases methylation2
Phenylmercuric Acetateaffects cotreatment, decreases expression2
methylmercuric chloridedecreases expression1
triphenyl phosphateaffects expression1
pirinixic acidaffects binding, decreases expression, increases activity1
arseniteincreases methylation1
sodium arseniteincreases expression1
butyraldehydedecreases expression1
pentanaldecreases expression1
di-n-butylphosphoric acidaffects expression1
fipronilincreases expression1
CGP 52608affects binding, increases reaction1
4-(5-benzo(1,3)dioxol-5-yl-4-pyridin-2-yl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)benzamideaffects cotreatment, decreases expression1
clothianidinincreases expression1
nutlin 3affects cotreatment, increases expression1
abrineincreases expression1
dorsomorphinaffects cotreatment, decreases expression1
theaflavin-3,3’-digallateaffects expression1
Sunitinibincreases expression1
Vorinostatdecreases expression1
Acetaminophendecreases expression1
Amiodaroneincreases expression1
Atrazineincreases expression1
Dactinomycinaffects cotreatment, increases expression1
Doxorubicindecreases expression1
Estradiolaffects cotreatment, decreases expression1
Methotrexateincreases expression1
Methyl Methanesulfonateincreases expression1
Phthalic Acidsincreases methylation1

Cellosaurus cell lines

3 cell lines: 3 embryonic stem cell

First 10 cell lines (id-ordered, not curated):

CellosaurusNameCategorySex
CVCL_A7G1SEES3-1V human TEF, clone1Embryonic stem cellMale
CVCL_A7G2SEES3-1V human TEF, clone2Embryonic stem cellMale
CVCL_A7G3SEES3-1V human TEF, clone3Embryonic stem cellMale

Clinical trials (associated diseases)

0 trials via MONDO — disease-level, not drug-specific.