Zinc finger protein GLI1 also known as glioma-associated oncogene is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GLI1 gene. It was originally isolated from human glioblastoma cells. The Gli proteins are the effectors of Hedgehog (Hh) signaling and have been shown to be involved in cell fate determination, proliferation and patterning in many cell types and most organs during embryo development. In the developing spinal cord the target genes of Gli proteins, that are themselves transcription factors, are arranged into a complex gene regulatory network that translates the extracellular concentration gradient of Sonic hedgehog into different cell fates along the dorsoventral axis. The Gli transcription factors activate/inhibit transcription by binding to Gli responsive genes and by interacting with the transcription complex. The Gli transcription factors have DNA binding zinc finger domains which bind to consensus sequences on their target genes to initiate or suppress transcription.