GLIS family zinc finger 2 also known as GLIS2 is a human gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

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Function

The protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

 encoded by this gene is a Kruppel-like

Kruppel-like factors

The Krüppel-like family of transcription factors , so named for their homology to the Drosophila melanogaster Krüppel protein, have been extensively studied for their roles in cell proliferation, differentiation and survival, especially in the context of cancer . All KLF family members are...

 transcription factor

Transcription factor

In molecular biology and genetics, a transcription factor is a protein that binds to specific DNA sequences, thereby controlling the flow of genetic information from DNA to mRNA...

 which functions depending on the gene and promoter context as an activator or repressor of gene transcription

Transcription (genetics)

Transcription is the process of creating a complementary RNA copy of a sequence of DNA. Both RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, which use base pairs of nucleotides as a complementary language that can be converted back and forth from DNA to RNA by the action of the correct enzymes...

. GLIS2 plays a role in kidney development and neurogenesis

Neurogenesis

Neurogenesis is the process by which neurons are generated from neural stem and progenitor cells. Most active during pre-natal development, neurogenesis is responsible for populating the growing brain with neurons. Recently neurogenesis was shown to continue in several small parts of the brain of...

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Glis2 knockout mice display decreased size and weight. The kidneys in these mice show progressive kidney atrophy and display symptoms similar to human nephronophthisis

Nephronophthisis

Nephronophthisis is a genetic disorder of the kidneys which affects children. It is classified as a medullary cystic kidney disease.The disorder is inherited in an autosomal recessive fashion and, although rare, is the most common genetic cause of childhood kidney failure.It is a form of...

. Glis2 plays an essential role in the maintenance of renal tissue through prevention of apoptosis

Apoptosis

Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death that may occur in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes and death. These changes include blebbing, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and chromosomal DNA fragmentation...

 and fibrosis

Fibrosis

Fibrosis is the formation of excess fibrous connective tissue in an organ or tissue in a reparative or reactive process. This is as opposed to formation of fibrous tissue as a normal constituent of an organ or tissue...

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