title: POK/ZBTB proteins: an emerging family of proteins that regulate lymphoid development and function.
abstract: The germinal center (GC) is a unique histological structure found in peripheral lymphoid organs. GCs provide an important source of humoral immunity by generating high affinity antibodies against a pathogen. The GC response is tightly regulated during clonal expansion, immunoglobulin modification, and affinity maturation, whereas its deregulation has a detrimental effect on immune function, leading to development of diseases, such as lymphoma and autoimmunity. LRF (lymphoma/leukemia-related factor), encoded by the ZBTB7A gene, is a transcriptional repressor belonging to the POK (POZ and Krüppel)/ZBTB (zing finger and BTB) protein family. LRF was originally identified as a PLZF (promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger) homolog that physically interacts with BCL6 (B-cell lymphoma 6), whose expression is required for GC formation and associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Recently, our group demonstrated that LRF plays critical roles in regulating lymphoid lineage commitment, mature B-cell development, and the GC response via distinct mechanisms. Herein, we review POK/ZBTB protein function in lymphoid development, with particular emphasis on the role of LRF in GC B cells.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematopoietic Stem Cell and Leukemia Research, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Sung-Uk
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maeda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018858:Germinal Center / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C485514:ZBTB7A protein, human