title: ZEC, a zinc finger protein with novel binding specificity and transcription regulatory activity.
abstract: A novel 114-kDa zinc finger protein, ZEC, has been found by cDNA cloning and characterized. ZEC was strongly expressed in the testis, liver and kidney, and also in embryonic stem cells. Epitope-tagged experiments indicated nuclear localization of ZEC. ZEC contained 18 C2H2 zinc fingers which were organized in two clusters. A ZEC binding DNA sequence, C/GA/TA/TGGTTGGTTGC, which we have designated the GT box, was identified by random oligonucleotide binding selection assay. The GT box did not contain binding sites for other previously characterized transcription factors and thus represented a potentially novel DNA target sequence. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) showed that both clusters of zinc fingers bound to the same DNA sequence. Site-directed mutagenesis revealed that the core sequence TTGGTT within the GT box was essential to ZEC binding, while DNA sequences outside of the core sequence enhanced this interaction. Furthermore, co-transfection assays demonstrated that ZEC could activate a reporter luciferase gene driven by this DNA sequence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan.
authors.forename: Guo-Yun
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hisako
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Muramatsu
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ichihara-Tanaka
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Muramatsu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015153:Blotting, Western; D019556:COS Cells; D002460:Cell Line; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008156:Luciferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014162:Transfection; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C494433:Zfp628 protein, mouse; D008156:Luciferases