This gene encodes a zinc finger transcription factor. The encoded protein likely plays a role in transcriptional repression of interleukin 2. ZEB1 contains two separate zinc finger domains (ZD1 and ZD2), which are essential for DNA binding and repression, and a homeodomain (HD), which is not. ZEB1 also contains three repression domains, two of which flank ZD1, and a third located between HD and ZD2. Interaction of ZEB1 with the TSHβ gene T3-response element may play a role in the modification of gene-specific regulation by thyroid hormones. In the embryo, ZEB1 is primarily expressed in the mesoderm, but changes in the level of expression during tissue maturation suggest a role for ZEB1 in the early histogenesis of mesodermal tissues.
