Skip to content
Main menu
  • Main page
  • Discover
  • Unexpected connections
  • Topics
  • Random article
  • Search
Your library
  • Saved articles
  • Recent discoveries
  • Rabbit-hole trails
Topic areas
  • Computer Science
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Engineering
  • Biology
  • Economics
  • Curiosities
WikiholeDeeper into Wikipedia
EnglishEN
  • Saved
  • History

  • Article text and media come live from Wikipedia via the official MediaWiki API and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may apply. Each article links to its source and revision.
  • WikiHole is an independent project and is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • How ranking works
  • All topics
  • Reading history
  • Random article
  • MediaWiki API

Serum response factor

  • Article
  • Rabbit hole
  • Read
  • View history
Tools
Actions
  • Read
  • View history
General
  • Recent changes
  • Related articles
  • Random discovery
This article
Reading time
5 min
Topic
Biology
Quality
Start-class
Views
55 in 14 days
Last edited
27 Oct 2026
Print/export
  • Printable version
In other projects
  • Wikidata item
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rabbit hole:
  1. Serum response factor
Serum response factor
Mammalian protein found in Homo sapiens

Serum response factor, also known as SRF, is a transcription factor protein.5

Loading the rest of the article…

Recent changes

Rabbit hole

Where Serum response factor leads. Every connection below has a source: a link in this article, a shared Wikipedia category, or CirrusSearch text similarity. Articles already on your trail are left out.

Contents
  • (Top)
  • Function
  • Clinical significance
  • Interactions
  • See also
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links
  • Recent changes
  • Rabbit hole
Contents
Contents9 sections
  • (Top)
  • Function
  • Clinical significance
  • Interactions
  • See also
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links
  • Recent changes
  • Rabbit hole
Study aids for Serum response factor

Terminology

SRF
Serum response factor, also known as SRF, is a transcription factor protein.

Terms the article defines in bold, quoted in context.

Categories:
  • Genes on human chromosome 6
  • MADS box transcription factors

219 words · 31 references · revision 1382275927 · CC BY-SA 4.0

General
  • Recent changes
  • Related articles
  • Random discovery
This article
Reading time
5 min
Topic
Biology
Quality
Start-class
Views
55 in 14 days
Last edited
27 Oct 2026

Key concepts

  • Transcription factor1
  • MADS-box1
  • Response element1
  • Promotor (biology)1
  • Immediate early genes1
  • C-fos1
  • Cell cycle1
  • Apoptosis1
  • Cellular differentiation1
  • Mitogen-activated protein kinase1

The articles this one links to most, weighted towards the introduction.

Print/export
  • Printable version
In other projects
  • Wikidata item

Function

Serum response factor is a member of the MADS (MCM1, Agamous, Deficiens, and SRF) box superfamily of transcription factors.6 This protein binds to the serum response element (SRE) in the promoter region of target genes. This protein regulates the activity of many immediate early genes, for example c-fos, and thereby participates in cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, cell growth, and cell differentiation. This gene is the downstream target of many pathways; for example, the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway (MAPK) that acts through the ternary complex factors (TCFs).78

SRF is important during the development of the embryo, as it has been linked to the formation of mesoderm.910 In the fully developed mammal, SRF is crucial for the growth of skeletal muscle.11 Interaction of SRF with other proteins, such as steroid hormone receptors, may contribute to regulation of muscle growth by steroids.12 Interaction of SRF with other proteins such as myocardin or Elk-1 may enhance or suppress expression of genes important for growth of vascular smooth muscle.

Clinical significance

Lack of skin SRF is associated with psoriasis and other skin diseases.13

Interactions

Serum response factor has been shown to interact with:

  • ASCC3,14
  • ATF6,15
  • CEBPB,1617
  • CREB-binding protein,18
  • ELK4,1519
  • GATA4,2021
  • GTF2F1,2223
  • GTF2I,2425
  • Myogenin,26

See also

  • MKL1
  • Nuclear actin functions

References

  1. 1GRCh38: Ensembl release 89: ENSG00000112658 – Ensembl, May 2017
  2. 2GRCm38: Ensembl release 89: ENSMUSG00000015605 – Ensembl, May 2017
  3. 3"Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  4. 4"Mouse PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  5. 5Norman C, Runswick M, Pollock R, Treisman R (December 1988). "Isolation and properties of cDNA clones encoding SRF, a transcription factor that binds to the c-fos serum response element". Cell. 55 (6): 989–1003. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(88)90244-9. PMID 3203386. .

Further reading

  • Esnault C, Stewart A, Gualdrini F, East P, Horswell S, Matthews N, Treisman R (May 2014). "Rho-actin signaling to the MRTF coactivators dominates the immediate transcriptional response to serum in fibroblasts". Genes & Development. 28 (9): 943–58. doi:10.1101/gad.239327.114. PMC 4018493. PMID 24732378.
  • Huh S, Song HR, Jeong GR, Jang H, Seo NH, Lee JH, Lee TH (Feb 2018). "Suppression of the ERK–SRF axis facilitates somatic cell reprogramming". Experimental & Molecular Medicine. 50 (2): e448. doi:10.1038/emm.2017.279. PMC 5903827. PMID 29472703.
  • Pellegrino R, Thavamani A, Calvisi DF, Budczies J, Neumann A, Geffers R, et al. (January 2021). "Serum Response Factor (SRF) Drives the Transcriptional Upregulation of the MDM4 Oncogene in HCC". . (2): 199. :. . .

External links

  • Serum+Response+Factor at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
  • FactorBook SRF

This article incorporates text from the United States National Library of Medicine ([1]), which is in the public domain.

27
  • NFYA,28
  • Nuclear receptor co-repressor 2,29
  • Promyelocytic leukemia protein18 and
  • Src,30 and
  • TEAD1.31
    • S2CID
    20004673
  • 6Shore P, Sharrocks AD (April 1995). "The MADS-box family of transcription factors". Eur. J. Biochem. 229 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1111/j.1432-1033.1995.0001l.x. PMID 7744019.
  • 7Dalton S, Marais R, Wynne J, Treisman R (June 1993). "Isolation and characterization of SRF accessory proteins". Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 340 (1293): 325–32. Bibcode:1993RSPTB.340..325D. doi:10.1098/rstb.1993.0074. PMID 8103935.
  • 8"SRF serum response factor". Entrez Gene. National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Institutes of Health.
  • 9Sepulveda JL, Vlahopoulos S, Iyer D, Belaguli N, Schwartz RJ (July 2002). "Combinatorial expression of GATA4, Nkx2-5, and serum response factor directs early cardiac gene activity". J. Biol. Chem. 277 (28): 25775–82. doi:10.1074/jbc.M203122200. PMID 11983708.
  • 10Barron MR, Belaguli NS, Zhang SX, Trinh M, Iyer D, Merlo X, Lough JW, Parmacek MS, Bruneau BG, Schwartz RJ (March 2005). "Serum response factor, an enriched cardiac mesoderm obligatory factor, is a downstream gene target for Tbx genes". J. Biol. Chem. 280 (12): 11816–28. doi:10.1074/jbc.M412408200. PMID 15591049.
  • 11Li S, Czubryt MP, McAnally J, Bassel-Duby R, Richardson JA, Wiebel FF, Nordheim A, Olson EN (January 2005). "Requirement for serum response factor for skeletal muscle growth and maturation revealed by tissue-specific gene deletion in mice". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 102 (4): 1082–7. Bibcode:2005PNAS..102.1082L. doi:10.1073/pnas.0409103102. PMC 545866. PMID 15647354.
  • 12Vlahopoulos S, Zimmer WE, Jenster G, Belaguli NS, Balk SP, Brinkmann AO, Lanz RB, Zoumpourlis VC, Schwartz RJ (March 2005). "Recruitment of the androgen receptor via serum response factor facilitates expression of a myogenic gene". J. Biol. Chem. 280 (9): 7786–92. doi:10.1074/jbc.M413992200. PMID 15623502.
  • 13Koegel H, von Tobel L, Schäfer M, Alberti S, Kremmer E, Mauch C, Hohl D, Wang XJ, Beer HD, Bloch W, Nordheim A, Werner S (April 2009). "Loss of serum response factor in keratinocytes results in hyperproliferative skin disease in mice". J. Clin. Invest. 119 (4): 899–910. doi:10.1172/JCI37771. PMC 2662566. PMID 19307725.
  • 14Jung DJ, Sung HS, Goo YW, Lee HM, Park OK, Jung SY, Lim J, Kim HJ, Lee SK, Kim TS, Lee JW, Lee YC (July 2002). "Novel transcription coactivator complex containing activating signal cointegrator 1". Mol. Cell. Biol. 22 (14): 5203–11. doi:10.1128/mcb.22.14.5203-5211.2002. PMC 139772. PMID 12077347.
  • 15Zhu C, Johansen FE, Prywes R (September 1997). "Interaction of ATF6 and serum response factor". Mol. Cell. Biol. 17 (9): 4957–66. doi:10.1128/MCB.17.9.4957. PMC 232347. PMID 9271374.
  • 16Hanlon M, Sealy L (May 1999). "Ras regulates the association of serum response factor and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein beta". J. Biol. Chem. 274 (20): 14224–8. doi:10.1074/jbc.274.20.14224. PMID 10318842.
  • 17Sealy L, Malone D, Pawlak M (March 1997). "Regulation of the cfos serum response element by C/EBPbeta". Mol. Cell. Biol. 17 (3): 1744–55. doi:10.1128/mcb.17.3.1744. PMC 231899. PMID 9032301.
  • 18Matsuzaki K, Minami T, Tojo M, Honda Y, Saitoh N, Nagahiro S, Saya H, Nakao M (March 2003). "PML-nuclear bodies are involved in cellular serum response". Genes Cells. 8 (3): 275–86. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2443.2003.00632.x. PMID 12622724. S2CID 9697837.
  • 19Hassler M, Richmond TJ (June 2001). "The B-box dominates SAP-1-SRF interactions in the structure of the ternary complex". EMBO J. 20 (12): 3018–28. doi:10.1093/emboj/20.12.3018. PMC 150215. PMID 11406578.
  • 20Belaguli NS, Sepulveda JL, Nigam V, Charron F, Nemer M, Schwartz RJ (October 2000). "Cardiac tissue enriched factors serum response factor and GATA-4 are mutual coregulators". Mol. Cell. Biol. 20 (20): 7550–8. doi:10.1128/mcb.20.20.7550-7558.2000. PMC 86307. PMID 11003651.
  • 21Morin S, Paradis P, Aries A, Nemer M (February 2001). "Serum response factor-GATA ternary complex required for nuclear signaling by a G-protein-coupled receptor". Mol. Cell. Biol. 21 (4): 1036–44. doi:10.1128/MCB.21.4.1036-1044.2001. PMC 99558. PMID 11158291.
  • 22Joliot V, Demma M, Prywes R (February 1995). "Interaction with RAP74 subunit of TFIIF is required for transcriptional activation by serum response factor". Nature. 373 (6515): 632–5. Bibcode:1995Natur.373..632J. doi:10.1038/373632a0. PMID 7854423. S2CID 47196160.
  • 23Zhu H, Joliot V, Prywes R (February 1994). "Role of transcription factor TFIIF in serum response factor-activated transcription". J. Biol. Chem. 269 (5): 3489–97. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(17)41889-8. PMID 8106390.
  • 24Grueneberg DA, Henry RW, Brauer A, Novina CD, Cheriyath V, Roy AL, Gilman M (October 1997). "A multifunctional DNA-binding protein that promotes the formation of serum response factor/homeodomain complexes: identity to TFII-I". Genes Dev. 11 (19): 2482–93. doi:10.1101/gad.11.19.2482. PMC 316568. PMID 9334314.
  • 25Kim DW, Cheriyath V, Roy AL, Cochran BH (June 1998). "TFII-I enhances activation of the c-fos promoter through interactions with upstream elements". Mol. Cell. Biol. 18 (6): 3310–20. doi:10.1128/mcb.18.6.3310. PMC 108912. PMID 9584171.
  • 26Groisman R, Masutani H, Leibovitch MP, Robin P, Soudant I, Trouche D, Harel-Bellan A (March 1996). "Physical interaction between the mitogen-responsive serum response factor and myogenic basic-helix-loop-helix proteins". J. Biol. Chem. 271 (9): 5258–64. doi:10.1074/jbc.271.9.5258. PMID 8617811.
  • 27Biesiada E, Hamamori Y, Kedes L, Sartorelli V (April 1999). "Myogenic basic helix-loop-helix proteins and Sp1 interact as components of a multiprotein transcriptional complex required for activity of the human cardiac alpha-actin promoter". Mol. Cell. Biol. 19 (4): 2577–84. doi:10.1128/MCB.19.4.2577. PMC 84050. PMID 10082523.
  • 28Yamada K, Osawa H, Granner DK (October 1999). "Identification of proteins that interact with NF-YA". FEBS Lett. 460 (1): 41–5. Bibcode:1999FEBSL.460...41Y. doi:10.1016/s0014-5793(99)01311-3. PMID 10571058. S2CID 28576187.
  • 29Lee SK, Kim JH, Lee YC, Cheong J, Lee JW (April 2000). "Silencing mediator of retinoic acid and thyroid hormone receptors, as a novel transcriptional corepressor molecule of activating protein-1, nuclear factor-kappaB, and serum response factor". J. Biol. Chem. 275 (17): 12470–4. doi:10.1074/jbc.275.17.12470. PMID 10777532.
  • 30Kim HJ, Kim JH, Lee JW (October 1998). "Steroid receptor coactivator-1 interacts with serum response factor and coactivates serum response element-mediated transactivations". J. Biol. Chem. 273 (44): 28564–7. doi:10.1074/jbc.273.44.28564. PMID 9786846.
  • 31Gupta M, Kogut P, Davis FJ, Belaguli NS, Schwartz RJ, Gupta MP (March 2001). "Physical interaction between the MADS box of serum response factor and the TEA/ATTS DNA-binding domain of transcription enhancer factor-1". J. Biol. Chem. 276 (13): 10413–22. doi:10.1074/jbc.M008625200. PMID 11136726.
    • Cancers
    13
    doi
    10.3390/cancers13020199
    PMC
    7829828
    PMID
    33429878
  • Hu X, Wu Q, Zhang J, Kim J, Chen X, Hartman AA, et al. (January 2021). "Reprogramming progressive cells display low CAG promoter activity". Stem Cells. 39 (1): 43–54. doi:10.1002/stem.3295. PMC 7821215. PMID 33075202.
  • Kepser LJ, Khudayberdiev S, Hinojosa LS, Macchi C, Ruscica M, Marcello E, et al. (February 2021). "Cyclase-associated protein 2 (CAP2) controls MRTF-A localization and SRF activity in mouse embryonic fibroblasts". Scientific Reports. 11 (1) 4789. Bibcode:2021NatSR..11.4789K. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-84213-w. PMC 7910472. PMID 33637797.
    • Created
    17 Nov 2007
    History
    88 edits
    40 contributors
    1 edit in the last 30 days
    Last edited
    27 Oct 2026

    88 revisions in total · 40 contributors · +9 / 0 bytes across 1 edits by 1 contributor in the last 30 days

    1. 27 Oct 2026, 18:54 UTCPabnauremoved Category:Transcription factors; added Category:MADS box transcription factors using HotCat+9diff
    2. 11 Aug 2026, 17:28 UTCJCW-CleanerBotm§ Further reading mark free doi+20diff
    3. 13 Nov 2025, 19:59 UTCCitation botAdded article-number. Removed parameters. Some additions/deletions were parameter name changes. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Abductive | Category:Transcription factors | #UCB_Category 449/740+9diff
    4. 15 Jul 2025, 04:44 UTCGreenC botMove 1 url. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:URLREQ#nih.gov−8diff
    5. 31 Mar 2025, 00:31 UTCTeaktl17m§ Function +wl+4diff
    6. 29 Mar 2025, 18:23 UTCTeaktl17m§ Function +wl+4diff
    7. 22 Aug 2024, 18:33 UTCCitation botAdded bibcode. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Whoop whoop pull up | Category:Transcription factors | #UCB_Category 632/732+32diff
    8. 12 Aug 2023, 17:05 UTCOAbotmOpen access bot: doi added to citation with #oabot.+20diff

    View full revision history

    Created
    17 Nov 2007
    History
    88 edits
    40 contributors
    1 edit in the last 30 days
    Last edited
    27 Oct 2026

    Related articles are unavailable right now.

    Wikipedia is rate limiting us right now. Try again in a minute.