| First Author | Mazarakis N | Year | 1996 |
| Journal | Genomics | Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 2 | Pages | 247-57 |
| PubMed ID | 8660973 | Mgi Jnum | J:32842 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:80327 | Doi | 10.1006/geno.1996.0189 |
| Citation | Mazarakis N, et al. (1996) Zfp-37 is a member of the KRAB zinc finger gene family and is expressed in neurons of the developing and adult CNS. Genomics 33(2):247-57 |
| abstractText | The murine Zfp-37 gene encodes a protein with 12 zinc fingers at its C-terminus (Nelki et al., 1990, Nucleic Acids Res. 18: 3655; Burke and Wolgemuth, 1992, Nucleic Acids Res. 20: 2827-2834). Contrary to the published data, our Northern blot analysis demonstrates not only that the Zfp-37 gene is expressed as 2.3, 2.6, and 4.2 kb mRNAs in testis, but also that there is a 3.7-kb message in the adult mouse brain. Using a partial cDNA as a probe, we have isolated a brain-specific Zfp-37 cDNA clone of 3.3 kb, whose sequence was extended to full length using 5' end RACE. This revealed that the 3.7-kb mRNA is in fact a collection of transcripts with heterogeneous 5' ends. Comparison of cDNA and genomic sequences shows that the Zfp-37 gene is spread over a region of approximately 20 kb and consists of six exons, the large 3' end exon containing the complete zinc finger domain, and 3' UTR. Our data show that the Zfp-37 gene utilizes different promoters, alternative splicing, and differential polyadenylation to generate the distinct transcripts of brain and testis. Several protein isoforms are encoded by these mRNAs, some of which contain a truncated form of a conserved domain (Kruppel-associated box) found in other zinc finger genes. In situ hybridization analysis of postnatal brain sections indicates that the Zfp-37 gene is expressed in all neurons of the central nervous system. Together, these results suggest that ZFP-37 is a transcriptional regulator predominantly present in postmitotic cells from two different lineages. |
