the gene spans approximately 60 kb; 6 exons

2.6 kb mRNA; two transcription initiation sites

228 amino acids; 26 kDa; contains a basic region/helix-loop-helix/leucine zipper (B-HLH-LZ) motif that is similar to that found in Myc family

tissue specific; induced during cells terminal differentiation

nuclear

Mxil, discovered in 1993, is, with Mad, one of the proteins that can regulate Max, a human protein containing a basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper (bHLH-zip) that allows the formation of cMyc-Max heterodimers and that activates transcription; Mad and Mxil may be involved in tumour suppression since they can compete with Myc proteins for the interaction with Max; Mxil normally functions to suppress cell growth: experimental induction of the gene resulted in the accumulation of cells in G2-M phase

belongs to the basic helix-loop-helix (bhlh) family of transcription factors

mutations have been described in some sporadic prostate cancers but no germline mutations were found in a study of 38 families with possible predisposition to this disease; a correlation between a polymorphic repeat in the 3 untranslated region in Mxil mRNA and regulation of its transcription and degradation has been suggested