Identification and characterization of two novel zinc finger genes, ZNF359 and ZFP28, in human development

Transcription factors play an essential role in controlling gene expression during cardiac and vascular pathogeneses. Identification of regulatory genes in the cardiovascular system is a necessary step toward an understanding of the pathogenesis of congenital heart disease and acquired cardiovascular diseases. The Cys2/His2 type zinc finger genes are the single largest class of transcription factors in the human genome and many numbers of these krüpple-like zinc finger genes have been found to be involved in cardiac development or cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we have identified two novel human krüpple-like zinc finger genes named ZNF359 and ZFP28 from the human heart cDNA library. The complete human ZNF359 cDNA sequence is 3270 bp and contains a 1932-bp open reading frame (ORF) that encodes a 643 amino acid protein with an N-terminal KRAB domain and 16 C-terminus zinc finger C₂H₂ motifs. The ZFP28 cDNA sequence is 4104 bp and contains a 2076-bp ORF that encodes an 868 amino acid protein with an N-terminal signal peptide, two KRAB domains, and 14 C-terminal C₂H₂ zinc finger motifs. Northern blot analyses showed a strong expression of ZNF359 and ZFP28 in various tissues of adult human. A further analysis using human embryonic tissues (18-23 weeks) showed a development-specific expression pattern in heart, skeletal muscle, liver, lung, kidney, and brain, suggesting a role for these genes in embryonic development.