Forkhead box protein D3 (FOXD3) acts as a transcriptional repressor and binds to the consensus sequence 5'-A[AT]T[AG]TTTGTTT-3'. It promotes development of neural crest cells from neural tube progenitors and restricts neural progenitor cells to the neural crest lineage while suppressing interneuron differentiation. FOXD3 is expressed in premigratory and migrating neural crest cells in the early embryo and in motorneuron and interneuron progenitors in the developing spinal cord. A variety of growth factors induce FoxD3 expression, including FGF8 and SNAIL, maintaining the effected cells in an undifferentiated state.