title: Emerging roles of zinc finger proteins in regulating adipogenesis.
abstract: Proteins containing the zinc finger domain(s) are named zinc finger proteins (ZFPs), one of the largest classes of transcription factors in eukaryotic genomes. A large number of ZFPs have been studied and many of them were found to be involved in regulating normal growth and development of cells and tissues through diverse signal transduction pathways. Recent studies revealed that a small but increasing number of ZFPs could function as key transcriptional regulators involved in adipogenesis. Due to the prevalence of obesity and metabolic disorders, the investigation of molecular regulatory mechanisms of adipocyte development must be more completely understood in order to develop novel and long-term impact strategies for ameliorating obesity. In this review, we discuss recent work that has documented that ZFPs are important functional contributors to the regulation of adipogenesis. Taken together, these data lead to the conclusion that ZFPs may become promising targets to combat human obesity.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shengjuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Lifan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Zhihua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Gary J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Hausman
authors.forename: Werner G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Bergen
authors.forename: Linsen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zan
authors.forename: Michael V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Dodson
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D050156:Adipogenesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009765:Obesity / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D016335:Zinc Fingers
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C484332:ZNF395 protein, human