title: The shorter zinc finger protein ZNF230 gene message is transcribed in fertile male testes and may be related to human spermatogenesis.
abstract: The zinc finger gene family represents one of the largest in the mammalian genome, with several of these genes reported to be involved in spermatogenesis. A newly discovered gene has been identified that is expressed abundantly in the testicular tissue of fertile men as determined by mRNA differential display. The gene encodes a C(3)HC(4)-type zinc finger protein motif (ring finger motif) consistent with a role in pre-meiotic or post-meiotic sperm development. The gene was named ZNF230 and mapped to the short arm of chromosome 11 (11p15). ZNF230 has two transcripts, of 1 kb and 4.4 kb in length. The shorter 1 kb transcript was only detected in testicular tissue whereas the longer 4.4 kb transcript was not detected in testis but was found in several other tissues. The lack of detectable ZNF230 expression in azoospermic patients by reverse transcriptase-mediated PCR analysis is interpreted to mean that this gene is involved in maintaining normal human male fertility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Genetics, West China Hospital and Key Laboratory of Morbid Genomics and Forensic Medicine of Sichuan, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, People's Republic of China. szzhang@mcwcums.com
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kamp
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Huellen
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lebo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Milunsky
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Vogt
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005298:Fertility / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D005333:Fetus / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009845:Oligospermia / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D013737:Testis / Q000502:physiology*; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014157:Transcription Factors; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C440989:ZNF230 protein, human