title: ZFAT expression in B and T lymphocytes and identification of ZFAT-regulated genes.
abstract: The human ZFAT gene encodes a 1243-amino-acid protein containing one AT hook and 18 C2H2 zinc finger domains, which are highly conserved among ZFAT orthologues from fish to mammalian species. Consistent with the presence of multiple predicted nuclear localization signals, endogenous ZFAT protein was found to be localized to the nucleus. In the mouse tissues examined by Western blotting, ZFAT was found to be expressed in thymus, spleen, and lymph nodes, but not in other tissues, including bone marrow. Furthermore, ZFAT protein was found to be up-regulated during the transition from CD4(-)CD8(-) to CD4(+)CD8(+) thymocytes and to be expressed only in B and T lymphocytes in peripheral lymphoid tissues. Expression array analyses demonstrated that genes that are down-regulated upon ZFAT overexpression in mouse Ba/F3 cells are significantly enriched for those functionally related to immune responses. These results suggest that ZFAT functions as a critical transcriptional regulator in B and T lymphocytes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, 7-45-1 Nanakuma, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan.
authors.forename: Midori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koyanagi
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakabayashi
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Iwai
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takashima
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Doi
authors.forename: Haruhito
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sasazuki
authors.forename: Senji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shirasawa
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors; C529572:ZFAT protein, human; C529571:ZFAT protein, mouse