Enables RNA polymerase II transcription regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding activity. Involved in neuron development; positive regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II; and thermosensory behavior. Located in nucleus. Is expressed in several structures, including anal region; gonad; hypodermis; neurons; and somatic nervous system. Human ortholog(s) of this gene implicated in panhypopituitarism. Orthologous to several human genes including LHX3 (LIM homeobox 3).
WB Description
ceh-14 encodes a LIM homeodomain protein orthologous to Drosophila Lim3 and the vertebrate Lhx3 and Lhx4 proteins; ceh-14 is required for specification of the AFD thermosensory neurons and for normal thermotactic behavior; a ceh-14::GFP reporter fusion is expressed in head and tail neurons, including the AFD thermosensory neurons, during late embryonic, larval, and adult stages. Animals triply mutant for the LIM homeobox genes ceh-14, lin-11, and ttx-3 which are required for function of the AFD, AIZ, and AIY neurons, respectively, exhibit a basic cryophilic thermotaxis response suggesting that, in C. elegans, there is more than one pathway for integration of thermosensory input.