Research On Functions Of A Novel Zinc Finger Protein HZF1

Hematopoiesis is a lifelong process responsible for replenishing hematopoietic progenitor cells and mature blood cells from a pool of pluripotent, long-term reconstituting stem cells. Commitment of stem cells to specific hematopoietic lineages and further differentiation and development mature of the committed cells are controlled at least partially through the combinatorial action of lineage-restricted and more widely expressed transcription factors. Some transcription factors containing C2H2 zinc finger motif, such as GATA family, FOG, and EKLF, have been found to play an important part in differentiation and development of blood cells.In 2000, we cloned a novel zinc finger cDNA HZF1 (GenBank accession No. AF244088) by screening a human bone marrow cDNA library. Based on that, my works focused on the research of the HZF1 gene construct, expression, functions and the molecular mechanism of HZF1 functions.Three different transcripts of HZF1 gene were identified by PCR amplification of cDNAs derived from hemin-induced K562 cells, which may result from different splicing of pre-mRNA of HZF1 gene. HZF1 gene contains four exons and three introns. One transcript contains exon 3 and 4, the second contains exons 1, 3 and 4 and the third contains all four exons. The encoded peptide should be identical because the differences among them are only involved in 5' non-translation region of HZF1 mRNA. The HZF1-coding sequence is 2010bp and the putative protein consists of 670 amino acid residues including 15 typical C2H2 and 2 C2RH zinc finger motifs.HZF1 mRNA expression was detected in ubiquitous tissues. The HZF1 mRNA was expressed highly in brain, heart, skeletal muscle, kidney, liver, placenta and fetal liver, moderately in spleen, small intestine and bone marrow, and slightly in colon, thymus,...