該基因編碼的蛋白質是堿性螺旋環螺旋亮氨酸拉鏈（bhlhz）轉錄因子家族的成員。它能與其他家族成員形成同二聚體和異二聚體，包括mad、mxi1和myc。myc是一種參與細胞增殖、分化和凋亡的腫瘤蛋白。同二聚體和異二聚體競爭一個共同的dna靶位點（e盒），這些二聚體形式之間的重排提供了一個復雜的轉錄調控系統。據報道，該基因突變與遺傳性嗜鉻細胞瘤有關。這個基因的一個假基因位于第7號染色體的長臂上。選擇性剪接導致多個轉錄變體。[由RefSeq提供，2012年8月]
The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper (bHLHZ) family of transcription factors. It is able to form homodimers and heterodimers with other family members, which include Mad, Mxi1 and Myc. Myc is an oncoprotein implicated in cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. The homodimers and heterodimers compete for a common DNA target site (the E box) and rearrangement among these dimer forms provides a complex system of transcriptional regulation. Mutations of this gene have been reported to be associated with hereditary pheochromocytoma. A pseudogene of this gene is located on the long arm of chromosome 7. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Aug 2012]