title: Zipzap/p200 is a novel zinc finger protein contributing to cardiac gene regulation.
abstract: Serum response factor (SRF) plays an important role in the regulation of immediate-early genes and muscle-specific genes, while SRF cofactors may contribute significantly to assist in tissue-specific, development-stage related regulation of SRF-target genes. We recently cloned a novel SRF cofactor, termed zipzap/p200, which is a zinc finger protein yet to be characterized. We determined that zipzap/p200 is a 200-kDa protein with two classic C2H2 zinc fingers at the carboxyl terminus where the nucleotide sequence was highly conserved among human, mouse, and rat. The zipzap gene was expressed in multiple tissues and at multiple ages, including the fetal and adult heart. The zipzap protein interacted with SRF in vivo and was found in protein complexes containing SRF and other SRF cofactors, including p49/strap and Nkx2.5. Zipzap/p200 activated the promoter of cardiac genes and potentiated the effect of myocardin on ANF promoter activity. Therefore, zipzap may serve as a transcription co-activator for the regulation of cardiac gene expression. Our data support the notion that a number of SRF cofactors may participate in gene regulation and thereby contribute to the delicate control of gene expression in complex biological processes.
authors.affiliation: Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics, The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA. zhangxiaomin@uams.edu
authors.forename: Xiaomin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Gohar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Azhar
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Jeanne Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D009928:Organ Specificity; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D026362:Serum Response Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016335:Zinc Fingers
chemical_list: C512511:ARID2 protein, human; C512512:Arid2 protein, mouse; D011506:Proteins; D026362:Serum Response Factor; D014157:Transcription Factors