The transcription factor C/EBP α (CCAAT-enhancer binding protein) is a heat-stable, sequence-specific DNA-binding protein that binds avidly to several different cis-regulatory DNA sequences commonly associated with viral and cellular genes transcribed by RNA polymerase II. C/EBP α regulates gene expression in a variety of tissues including liver, adipose, lung and intestine. C/EBP α is a basic region/leucine zipper transcription factor selectively expressed during the differentiation of liver, adipose tissue, blood cells and the endocrine pancreas. C/EBP α uses a bipartite structural motif to bind DNA and appears to function exclusively in terminally differentiated, growth-arrested cells. In the liver, C/EBP α is a transactivator of several genes, which are regulated by growth hormone. Growth hormone enhances not only the levels of C/EBP α mRNA and protein, but also the DNA binding activity of C/EBP α. C/EBP α functions as an important transcription factor that regulates different genes, including prolactin gene expression.
