[C.elegansII] n1378 : Egl, hermaphrodite sex muscles fail to differentiate; additional axon and lineage defects. ME0 (severe Mab), HME3. OA3: h769, n2087, n1971 (stronger allele, two mesodermal and six neuronal cell types pleiotropically affected; 2 additional touch cells formed in tail), etc. Cloned: encodes predicted protein with 6 C2H2 zincfinger motifs. [Desai et al. 1988; Mitani et al. 1993; MT; NH; TU]
sem-4 encodes a zinc-finger protein; sem-4 activity is required for proper development of cells in neuronal, mesodermal, and vulval cell lineages; sem-4 activity is also required for transdifferentiation of the Y rectal cell to the PDA neuron during larval development; a SEM-4::GFP reporter fusions are widely expressed with fluorescence seen in a number of different cell types including neurons, hypodermis, vulval precursor cells, and tail blast cells such as B and F.
Enables RNA polymerase II transcription regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding activity. Involved in several processes, including cell differentiation; regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II; and response to oxidative stress. Located in nucleus. Expressed in several structures, including HSN; M lineage cell; rectal epithelial cell; rectum; and tail hypodermis. Human ortholog(s) of this gene implicated in several diseases, including Duane retraction syndrome; Duane-radial ray syndrome; and Holt-Oram syndrome. Is an ortholog of human SALL1 (spalt like transcription factor 1) and SALL3 (spalt like transcription factor 3).