ZNF217 Research Articles

Emergence of Talanin protein associated with human uric acid nephrolithiasis in the Hominidae lineage

Recently, we identified a susceptibility locus for human uric acid nephrolithiasis (UAN) on 10q21–q22 and demonstrated that a novel gene ( ZNF365) included in this region produces through alternative splicing several transcripts coding for four protein isoforms. Mutation analysis showed that one of them (Talanin) is associated with UAN. We examined the evolutionary conservation of ZNF365 gene through a comparative genomic approach. Searching for mouse homologs of ZNF365 transcripts, we identified a highly conserved mouse ortholog of ZNF365A transcript, expressed specifically in brain. We did not found a mouse homolog for ZNF365D transcript encoding the Talanin protein, even if we were able to identify the corresponding genomic region in mouse and rat not yet organized in canonical gene structure suggesting that ZNF365D was originated after the branching of hominoid from rodent lineage. In mouse and in most mammals, a functional uricase degrades the uric acid to allantoin, but uricase activity was lost during the Miocene epoch in hominoids. Searching for the presence of Talanin in Primates, we found a canonical intron–exon structure with several stop codons preventing protein production in Old World and New World monkeys. In humans, we observe expression and we have evidence that ZNF365D transcript produces a functional protein. It seems therefore that ZNF365D transcript emerged during primate evolution from a noncoding genomic sequence that evolved in a standard gene structure and assumed its role in parallel with the disappearance of uricase, probably against a disadvantageous excessive hyperuricemia.

CAS (cellular apoptosis susceptibility) gene expression in ovarian carcinoma: Correlation with 20q13.2 copy number and cyclin D1, p53, and Rb protein expression.

We immunohistochemically analyzed cellular apoptosis susceptibility (CAS) protein expression and compared it with 20q13.2 copy number and the expression of cell cycle-associated proteins retinoblastoma (Rb), cyclin D1, and p53 and prognosis on paraffin-embedded tissue from 69 ovarian carcinomas (OCs). CAS protein reactivity was present in 100%, Rb in 54%, cyclin D1 in 47%, and p53 in 49%. Significant reciprocal correlation was observed between high levels of CAS and histologic type, FIGO (International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology) stage III and grade 3, residual tumor (>2 cm), 20q13.2 (ZNF217 gene) amplification (>4 copies in >20% cells), and high expression of cyclin D1 (all P < .05). No association was found between cyclin D1, p53, or Rb levels with clinicopathologic factors. In univariate analysis, residual tumor, FIGO stage and grade, ZNF217 amplification, and CAS levels predicted outcome (all P < .05). In multivariate analysis, stage, grade, amount of residual tumor, and ZNF217 amplification showed independent prognostic value (all P < .05). In OC, alteration of CAS and ZNF217 genes, both located at 20q13, is frequent and relevant prognostically. Cyclin D1, Rb, and p53 seem to have a secondary role.

Cloning and characterization of a novel Krüppel-like zinc finger gene, ZNF268, expressed in early human embryo

With the aim of identifying genes involved in early human embryonic development, we have isolated a cDNA clone representing a novel human zinc finger gene ZNF268 from 3 week old human embryo cDNA library using a differential hybridization strategy. The complete cDNA sequence of ZNF268 contained an open reading frame of 2841 nucleotides that encodes a 947 amino acid protein with an N-terminal Krüppel-associated box (KRAB) domain and 24 C-terminal zinc fingers. Northern blot analysis showed that ZNF268 mRNA is mainly expressed in 3–5 week old human embryos suggesting it could play certain roles in the embryogenesis. The gene consists of six exons spanning about 22 kb of genomic DNA. According to the genomic sequence from the HTGS database, the ZNF268 gene is assigned to human chromosome 5.

Complex beta-satellite repeat structures and the expansion of the zinc finger gene cluster in 19p12.

We investigated the organization, architecture, and evolution of the largest cluster ( approximately 4 Mb) of Krüppel-associated box zinc finger (KRAB-ZNF) genes located in cytogenetic band interval 19p12. A highly integrated physical map ( approximately 700 kb) of overlapping cosmid and BAC clones was developed between genetic STS markers D19S454 and D19S269. Using ZNF91 exon-specific probes to interrogate a detailed EcoRI restriction map of the region, ZNF genes were found to be distributed in a head-to-tail fashion throughout the region with an average density of one ZNF duplicon every 150-180 kb of genomic distance. Sequence analysis of 208,967 bp of this region indicated the presence of two putative ZNF genes: one consisting of a novel member of this gene family (ZNF208) expressed ubiquitously in all tissues examined and the other representing a nonprocessed pseudogene (ZNF209), located 450 kb proximal to ZNF208. Large blocks of ( approximately 25-kb) inverted beta-satellite repeats with a remarkably symmetrical higher order repeat structure were found to bracket the functional ZNF gene. Hybridization analysis using the beta-satellite repeat as a probe indicates that beta-satellite interspersion between ZNF gene cassettes is a general property for 1.5 Mb of the ZNF gene cluster in 19p12. Both molecular clock data as well as a retroposon-mapping molecular fossil approach indicate that this ZNF cluster arose early during primate evolution (approximately 50 million years ago). We propose an evolutionary model in which heteromorphic pericentromeric repeat structures such as the beta satellites have been coopted to accommodate rapid expansion of a large gene family over a short period of evolutionary time. [The sequence data described in this paper have been submitted to GenBank under accession nos. AC003973 and AC004004.]

Cloning and Characterization of a Novel Zinc Finger Gene in Xp11.2

During a systematic search for open reading frames in chromosome band Xp11.2, a novel gene (ZNF157) that encodes a putative 506-amino-acid protein with the sequence characteristics of a zinc-finger-containing transcription factor was isolated. ZNF157 is encoded by four exons distributed over >20 kb of genomic DNA. The second and third exons contain sequences similar to those of the previously described KRAB-A and KRAB-B domains, motifs that have been shown to mediate transcriptional repression in other members of the protein family. A fourth exon contains 12 zinc finger DNA binding motifs and finger linking regions characteristic of ZNF proteins of theKrüppelfamily. ZNF157 maps to the telomeric end of a cluster of ZNF genes that includes ZNF21, ZNF41, and ZNF81.

Isolation and fine mapping of 16 novel human zinc finger-encoding cDNAs identify putative candidate genes for developmental and malignant disorders.

We have isolated and chromosomally fine-mapped 16 novel genes belonging to the human zinc finger Krüppel family (ZNF131-140, 142, 143, 148, 151, 154, and 155), including 1 of the GLI type (ZNF143) and 3 containing a KRAB (Krüppel-associated box) segment (ZNF133, 136, and 140). Based on their map position, several of these ZNF genes are putative candidate genes for both developmental and malignant disorders: ZNF138, ZNF139, and ZNF143 were localized to 7q11.2, 7q21.3-q22.1, and 11p15.3-p15.4, regions involved in deletions and/or translocations associated with Williams syndrome, split hand and foot disease (SHFD1), and Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, respectively. ZNF133 was localized to 20p11.2, close to, but probably distinct from, the region deleted in Alagille syndrome. Zinc finger genes mapping to regions commonly deleted in solid tumors included ZNF132, 134, 135, 137, 154, and 155, all located on 19q13 (thyroid adenoma), and ZNF151, at 1p36.1-p36.2 (neuroblastoma, colon cancer, and other tumors). In addition, several of the ZNFs mapped to regions implicated in recurrent chromosomal rearrangements in hematological malignancies (ZNF139, 7q21.3-q22.1; ZNF148, 3q21-q22; ZNF151, 1p36.1-p36.2). The study indicates that the number of ZNF genes in human is large and that systematic isolation and mapping of ZNF genes is a straightforward approach for the identification of novel candidate disease genes.

Aberrant alternative splicing of human zinc finger gene ZNF268 in human hematological malignancy

The human ZNF268 gene was initially described as a gene associated with early human embryogenesis and was later implicated in human leukemia due to the identification of an alternatively splice form in leukemia patients. To systematically evaluate the correlation of ZNF268 with human hematological malignancy, expression of different alternatively spliced forms of ZNF268 mRNA in peripheral blood of 45 patients with hematological malignancies and 17 healthy donors were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and nested PCR. We demonstrated that presence of ZNF268a, ZNF268c, ZNF268f and ZNF268g were significantly different between the patients and healthy donors (P<0.05). Our study thus suggests that aberrant alternative splicing of ZNF268 is a potential prognostic factor of and may contribute to human hematological malignancies.