HGNC Approved Gene Symbol: ZNF438
Cytogenetic location: 10p11.23 Genomic coordinates (GRCh38): 10:30,844,632-31,032,411 (from NCBI)
ZNF438 is a C2H2-type zinc finger protein that functions as a transcriptional repressor (Zhong et al., 2007).
By EST database analysis and PCR of a human brain cDNA library, Zhong et al. (2007) cloned ZNF438. The deduced 828-amino acid protein has a calculated molecular mass of 91.8 kD. ZNF438 has 7 putative SUMO-binding sites and 5 C-terminal C2H2-type zinc finger domains. Human ZNF438 shares 62% amino acid identity with its mouse and rat orthologs. RT-PCR of 18 human tissues showed ubiquitous expression of ZNF438, with strongest expression in adult uterus, bladder, colon, ovary, testis, skeletal muscle, heart, and brain, and weakest expression in bone marrow, kidney, liver, and stomach. Immunofluorescence analysis revealed nuclear localization of ZNF438 in transfected COS-7 cells.
Using a luciferase reporter assay, Zhong et al. (2007) showed that human ZNF438 repressed transcription in a dose-dependent manner.
Zhong et al. (2007) determined that the ZNF438 gene contains 7 exons.
By genomic sequence analysis, Zhong et al. (2007) mapped the ZNF438 gene to chromosome 10p11.2.
Zhong, Z., Wan, B., Qiu, Y., Ni, J., Tang, W., Chen, X., Yang, Y., Shen, S., Wang, Y., Bai, M., Lang, Q., Yu, L. Identification of a novel human zinc finger gene, ZNF438, with transcription inhibition activity. J. Biochem. Molec. Biol. 40: 517-524, 2007. [PubMed: 17669267] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.5483/bmbrep.2007.40.4.517]