Drought-responsive element-binding protein (DREB) (DREB)

Drought-responsive element-binding proteins (DREBs) are a major class of transcription factors in plants that play a critical role in the response to abiotic stresses, particularly drought, salinity, and low temperature. They belong to the APETALA2/Ethylene-Responsive Factor (AP2/ERF) family and specifically bind to the dehydration-responsive element (DRE) or C-repeat (CRT) cis-acting elements in the promoters of stress-inducible genes. While they are essential for plant adaptation to environmental stress and are primary targets for agricultural biotechnology to improve crop resilience, they are not considered therapeutic targets in human medicine. In the context of drug discovery, the term is often a misnomer or may be confused with the human Core-binding factor (CBF), which is a transcription factor involved in hematopoiesis and a known target in leukemia. There are no known drugs or clinical applications for DREB proteins in humans.

Other names

C-repeat binding factorCBFDrought-responsive proteinDehydration-responsive element-binding protein

Not applicable for human therapeutics