Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4

HNF-4 (hepatocyte nuclear factor 4) is a transcription factor belonging to the nuclear receptor family. It is characterized by the presence of an N-terminal AF-1 (activation function 1), a DBD (DNA-binding domain) of the zinc-finger type and a multifunctional LBD (ligand-binding domain) which harbours AF-2 and is connected with the DBD by a hinge region. Interestingly, varieties of fatty acids bind with very high affinity to HNF-4, but may not serve as classical exchangeable ligands controlling HNF4 activities. HNF-4 contains two subtypes in humans, HNF4α (NR2A1) and HNF4γ (NR2A2). HNF-4 is predominantly expressed in the liver, intestine, pancreas and kidney and regulates the expression of genes and gene networks with important physiological roles in the above organs