pfam04538: BEX (this model, PSSM-Id:398300 is obsolete and has been replaced by 461346)
Brain expressed X-linked like family
This is a family of transcription elongation factors which includes those referred to as Bex proteins as well as those named TCEAL7. Bex1 was shown to be a novel link between neurotrophin signalling, the cell cycle, and neuronal differentiation, suggesting it might function by coordinating internal cellular states with the ability of cells to respond to external signals. TCEAL7 has been shown negatively to regulate the NF-kappaB pathway, hence being important in ovarian cancer as it one of the genes frequently downregulated in this cancer. A closely related protein, TFIIS/TCEA, found in pfam07500 is involved in transcription elongation and transcript fidelity. TFIIS/TCEA promotes 3' endoribonuclease activity of RNA polymerase II (pol II) and allows pol II to bypass transcript pause or 'arrest' during elongation process. It is thus possible that BEX is also acting in this way.