Daxx

Synonyms

BING2; DAP6; Death-associated protein 6; MGC126245; MGC126246

Definition

Daxx was originally identified as a protein factor that binds to a transmembrane receptor called Fas (FAS/APO-1/CD95), one member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily (Yang et al. 1997). The extracellular region of Fas is where its ligand, FasL, binds. The intracellular tail shares sequence similarity with another member of the TNF receptor family, TNF receptor I (TNFRI). The shared sequence is termed death domain for its critical role in signaling cell death upon ligand binding.

Characteristics

Since its identification in 1997, Daxx has been intensively investigated for its biological functions. However, up to date the three-dimensional crystal structure of Daxx has not been resolved. Human Daxx protein is a polypeptide of 740 amino acid residues in length. As depicted in the schematic diagram (Fig. 1), Daxx contains several putative domains and many binding sites for interacting with a...