Anti-MAFA antibodies are used in the immunodetection of the protein MAF bZIP transcription factor A. In humans, the canonical protein has a reported length of 353 amino acid residues and a mass of 37 kDa. Its subcellular localization is in the nucleus. It is reported to be expressed in the islets of Langerhans. A member of the BZIP protein family, MAFA is reported to be a transcription factor that activates insulin gene expression. Post-translational modifications have been described, including ubiquitination and phosphorylation. The MAFA marker can be used to identify Pancreatic Endocrine Cells and Dorsal Excitatory Neurons.* Synonyms for this target antigen include RIPE3b1 activator, RIPE3b1 factor, pancreatic beta-cell-specific transcriptional activator, transcription factor RIPE3b1, and transcription factor MafA. MAFA gene orthologs have been reported in the mouse, rat, bovine, frog, zebrafish, chimpanzee and chicken species.
*HuBMAP Human Reference Atlas v1.4