Zinc finger protein Helios is a protein that in humans is encoded by the IKZF2 gene. This protein is a member of Ikaros family of transcription factors.
This gene encodes a member of the Ikaros family of zinc-finger proteins. This family of transcription factors consists of five members: Ikaros (Ikzf1), Helios (Ikzf2), Aiolos (Ikzf3), Eos (Ikzf4), and Pegasus (Ikzf5). The Ikaros family members are involved in the hematopoietic development, some to a greater extent than others with Ikaros being expressed in all hematopoietic cells. This protein forms homo- or hetero-dimers with other Ikaros family members. Multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene, but the biological relevance of some variants has not been determined.
When these factors are missing or altered, lymphocytes suffer from defective development. Since Ikaros family members can interact with each other, it is probable that when one transcription factor is defected, others can substitute it. Because of this, it is rather difficult to assess precise function to each transcription factor.
