Purified anti-BATF

BATF is a basic leucine zipper transcription factor belonging to the ATF superfamily. BATF forms heterodimers with Jun proteins, which in turn binds to AP-1 consensus sites. The BATF/Jun heterodimers have significantly reduced transcriptional activity compared to Fos/Jun heterodimers. Therefore, induction of BATF expression suppresses AP-1 target genes by competing for Fos/Jun binding sequences. BATF is expressed at low levels in hematopoietic cells and can be induced in response to a variety of stimuli. BATF knockout mice show defects in cytokine expression and in the differentiation of T helper cell subsets and B cells, but not in the proliferation of lymphocytes. These findings suggest that BATF is a tissue-specific regulator for AP-1 activity and plays an essential role in the regulation of immune responses. During early EBV infection, BATF expression is induced by EBNA2 proteins, subsequently preventing infected B cells from entering apoptotic and lytic pathways. This indicates that BATF functions as a modulator to maintain latency status of virus-infected cells.