Meis3 - Meis homeobox 3

The protein encoding this gene belongs to the three amino acid loop extension family of homeodomain transcription factors, which play essential roles in many embryonic processes. These proteins are characterized by an atypical homeodomain containing a three amino acid loop extension between helices 1 and 2. Expression of this gene begins during the compaction stage of embryogenesis and continues into the blastocyst stage. This gene is also expressed in pancreatic islet cells and beta-cells and regulates beta-cell survival. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Nov 2014]