Isolation and characterization of a novel zinc finger gene, ZNFD, activating AP1(PMA) transcriptional activities

• DOI: 10.1007/s11010-010-0401-1
• Publication Date: 2010-02-17T02:23:47Z
• Authors: Chen Lei; Qingmei Liu; Weiping Wang; Jun Li; Fengqin Xu; Yuanze Liu; Jiajia Liu; Shiliang Wu; Minghua Wang
• Keywords: Cell Nucleus; Male; 0301 basic medicine; 0303 health sciences; Base Sequence; Molecular Sequence Data; Nuclear Proteins; Zinc Fingers; Transfection; DNA-Binding Proteins; Enzyme Activation; Transcription Factor AP-1; Open Reading Frames; 03 medical and health sciences; COS Cells; Chlorocebus aethiops; Trans-Activators; Animals; Humans; Female; Amino Acid Sequence; Protein Kinase C; HeLa Cells

ZFPs (Zinc Finger Proteins) play important roles in various cellular functions, including transcriptional activation, transcriptional repression, cell proliferation, and development. C(2)H(2) (Cys-Cys-His-His motif) ZFPs are the most abundant proteins among the founding members of the ZFP super family in eukaryotes. In this study, we isolate a novel C(2)H(2) ZNF (Zinc Finger) gene ZNFD. It contains an ORF (Open Reading Frame) with a length of 990 bp, encoding 329 amino acids. The predicted protein contains a C(2)H(2) zinc finger. RT-PCR analysis in 18 human adult tissues indicated that it was expressed in five human adult tissues. Green fluorescence protein localization analysis showed that human ZNFD was located in the nucleus of Hela cells. Overexpression of ZNFD in the COS7 cells activates the transcriptional activities of AP1(PMA) (Activator of protein 1, that responds specifically to phorbol ester). Together the data indicate that ZNFD is probably a new type of C(2)H(2) ZFP and the ZNFD protein may act as a transcriptional activator in PKC (protein kinase C) signal pathway to mediate cellular functions.