期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:1991
卷号:88
期号:9
页码:3608-3612
DOI:10.1073/pnas.88.9.3608
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:We have previously shown that the human genome includes hundreds of genes coding for putative factors related to the Kruppel zinc-finger protein, which regulates Drosophila segmentation. We report herein that about one-third of these genes code for proteins that share a very conserved region of about 75 amino acids in their N-terminal nonfinger portion. Homologous regions are found in a number of previously described finger proteins, including mouse Zfp-1 and Xenopus Xfin. We named this region the Kruppel-associated box (KRAB). This domain has the potential to form two amphipathic alpha-helices. Southern blot analysis of "zoo" blots suggests that the Kruppel-associated box is highly conserved during evolution. Northern blot analysis shows that these genes are expressed in most adult tissues and are down-regulated during in vitro terminal differentiation of human myeloid cells.