MITF: Proteins and Enzymes

MITF (Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor) is a member of the MiT/TFE family of molecules. Although it has a predicted MW of 58 kDa, it runs anomalously in SDS-PAGE at 57-66 kDa. MITF-A1 is found in melanocytes and RPEs where it regulates melanin synthesis via tyrosinase and TRP-1 gene expression. Human MITF-A1 is 526 amino acids (aa) in length. It contains a bHLH DNA binding region (aa 309-369) and a Leu-zipper domain (aa 374-395). There are three phosphorylation sites at ...