VENTX(也称为VENT同源盒或VENTX2)基因是转录因子同源盒家族中的一员。VENTX的同源性首次在爪爪鱼中被描述,它参与BMP和Nanog信号通路并控制背腹中胚层模式(Onichtchouk et al. 1996, Scerbo et al. 2012)。斑马鱼VENTX的同源基因也参与了早期胚胎的背腹模式(Imai et al. 2001)。啮齿动物缺乏VENTX直系基因(Zhong and Holland 2011)。VENTX在人类血细胞中表达(Moretti et al. 2001),并在造血中发挥重要作用。VENTX在造血中的作用首次被提出是基于它在爪蟾和斑马鱼中胚层模式中的作用(Davidson和Zon 2000)。VENTX促进造血干细胞和/或祖细胞的细胞周期阻滞和分化(Wu, Gao, Ke, Giese and Zhu 2011, Wu et al. 2014)。Ventx抑制导致造血干细胞和多祖细胞的扩张(Gao et, J. Biol)。化学,2012)。VENTX诱导细胞周期抑制剂TP53 (p53)和p16INK4A的转录,并激活TP53和p16INK4A调控的肿瘤抑制通路(Wu, Gao, Ke, Hager et al. 2011)以及巨噬细胞集群刺激因子受体(CSF1R) (Wu, Gao, Ke, 2011)Giese和Zhu 2011),并抑制cyclin D1 (CCND1) (Gao et al. 2010)和白介素-6 (IL6) (Wu et al. 2014)的转录。 Chromatin immunoprecipitation showed that EGR3 transcription factor directly binds to the promoter of IL6 and IL8 genes (Baron VT et al, BJC 2015). While VENTX expression may suppress lymphocytic leukemia (Gao et al. 2010), high levels of VENTX have been reported in acute myeloid leukemia cells, with a positive effect on their proliferation (Rawat et al. 2010). Another homeobox transcription factor that regulates differentiation of hematopoietic stemm cells is DLX4 (Bon et al. 2015). Studies on colon cancer showed that VentX regulates tumor associated macrophages and reverts immune suppression in tumor microenvironment (Le et al. 2018). MEK1 is required for Xenopus Ventx2 asymmetric distribution during blastula cell division. Ventx2 inhibition by MEK1 is required for embryonic cell commitment (Scerbo et al, eLife, 2017). VENTX induces TP53-independent apoptosis in cancer cells (Gao H, Oncotarget, 2016). During Xenopus embryonic development, VENTX ortholog regulates transcription of the sox3 gene (Rogers et al. 2007) as well as the early neuronal gene zic3 (Umair et al. 2018).