The KRAB-zinc-finger protein ZFP708 mediates epigenetic repression at RMER19B retrotransposons

• DOI: 10.1242/dev.170266
• Publication Date: 2019-03-07T18:09:53Z
• Authors: Michelle K. Y. Seah; Yaju Wang; Pierre-Alexis Goy; Hui Mun Loh; Wen Jun Peh; Diana H. P. Low; Brenda Y. Han; Esther Wong; Ei Leen Leong; Gernot Wolf; Slim Mzoughi; Heike Wollmann; Todd S. Macfarlan; Ernesto Guccione; Daniel M. Messers...
• Keywords: Retrotransposon; Reprogramming; Polycomb-group proteins

Global epigenetic reprogramming is vital to purge germ cell-specific features establish the totipotent state of embryo. This process transpires be carefully regulated and not an undirected, radical erasure parental epigenomes. The TRIM28 complex has been shown crucial in embryonic by regionally opposing DNA demethylation preserve information inherited from germline soma. Yet DNA-binding factors guiding this specific targets are largely unknown. Here, we uncover characterize a novel, maternally expressed, TRIM28-interacting KRAB zinc-finger protein: ZFP708. It recruits repressive RMER19B retrotransposons evoke regional heterochromatin formation. ZFP708 binding these hitherto unknown methylation H3K9me3 independent. mutant mice viable fertile, yet embryos fail inherit maintain at target sites. can result activation RMER19B-adjacent genes, while ectopic expression results transcriptional repression. Finally, describe evolutionary conservation rats, which linked conserved presence targeted species.