Dppa3 (developmental pluripotency-associated protein 3), also known as Stella or PGC7, belongs to family known only in placental mammals [, , ]. The PGC7/Stella/Dppa3 protein protects imprinted regions from demethylation post-fertilization []. This suggests that it might bind methylated DNA sequences directly []. Dppa3 also seems to be involved in the demethylation process during reprogramming of embryonic germ cell precursors []. Most placental mammals contain 3-6 paralogues of this family.The conserved core of Dppa3 includes a positively charged helical segment and a C-terminal CXCXXC motif that is predicted to chelate a metal ion []. The CXCXXC motif is also conserved in a subset of fungal MBD4-like proteins [].
