Zbtb7a plays a key role in the instruction of early lymphoid progenitors to develop into B lineage by repressing T-cell instructive Notch signals. Zbtb7a specifically represses the transcription of the CDKN2A gene. Zbtb7a efficiently abrogates E2F1-dependent CDKN2A transactivation/de-repression. Zbtb7a binds to the consensus sequence 5-[GA][CA]GACCCCCCCCC-3.