A novel human KRAB-containing zinc-finger gene ZNF446 inhibits transcriptional activities of SRE and AP-1

• Published in: Biochemical and biophysical research communications 2005-07, Vol.333 (1), p.5-13
• Main Authors: Liu, Fang, Zhu, Chuanbing, Xiao, Jing, Wang, Yuequn, Tang, Wenxian, Yuan, Wuzhou, Zhao, Yulian, Li, Yongqing, Xiang, Zhiming, Wu, Xiushan, Liu, Mingyao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Cercopithecus aethiops; COS Cells; DNA-Binding Proteins - chemistry; DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Evolution, Molecular; Gene Expression Regulation - physiology; Heart development; Humans; KRAB; Kruppel type zinc finger; MAPK signaling pathway; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases - metabolism; Molecular Sequence Data; Organ Specificity; Recombinant Proteins - chemistry; Recombinant Proteins - metabolism; Repressor Proteins - chemistry; Repressor Proteins - genetics; Repressor Proteins - metabolism; Sequence Analysis, Protein; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Species Specificity; SRF and AP-1; Tissue Distribution; Transcription Factor AP-1 - metabolism; Transcription Factors - metabolism; Transcriptional Activation - physiology; Transcriptional repressor; Zinc Fingers - physiology; ZNF446
• ISSN: 0006-291X; 1090-2104
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.05.069

Kruppel-related zinc-finger proteins constitute the largest individual family of transcription factors in mammals [C. Looman, L. Hellman, M. Abrink, A novel Kruppel-associated box identified in a panel of mammalian zinc-finger proteins, Mammalian Genome 15 (1) (2004) 35–40. [1]]. Here we identified and characterized a novel zinc-finger gene named ZNF446. The predicted protein contains a KRAB and three C 2H 2 zinc fingers. Northern blot analysis shows that ZNF446 is expressed in a variety of human adult tissues with the highest expression level in muscle. ZNF446 is a transcription repressor when fused to GAL4 DNA-binding domain and co-transfected with VP-16. Overexpression of ZNF446 in COS-7 cells inhibits the transcriptional activities of SRE and AP-1, in which the KRAB motif represents the basal transcriptional repressive activity, suggesting that the ZNF446 protein may act as a transcriptional repressor in mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway to mediate cellular functions.