CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CEBPA gene.

The protein encoded by this intronless gene is a bZIP transcription factor which can bind as a homodimer to certain promoters and enhancers. It can also form heterodimers with the related proteins CEBP-beta and CEBP-gamma. The encoded protein has been shown to bind to the promoter and modulate the expression of the gene encoding leptin, a protein that plays an important role in body weight homeostasis. Also, the encoded protein can interact with CDK2 and CDK4, thereby inhibiting these kinases and causing growth arrest in cultured cells. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]. Sequence Note: This RefSeq record was created from transcript and genomic sequence data to make the sequence consistent with the reference genome assembly. The genomic coordinates used for the transcript record were based on transcript alignments.
Function: C/EBP is a DNA-binding protein that recognizes two different motifs: the CCAAT homology common to many promoters and the enhanced core homology common to many enhancers.