Role of the domains of human gene ZNF569 in MAPK pathway

Abstract

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal pathways are important components in signal transduction connecting cell-surface receptors to critical regulatory targets within cells, mediating multiple intracellular signal cascades and phosphorylating their target proteins, such as transcriptional factors ELK-1, SRE and AP-1, and finally activating the expression of intracellular functional genes. Zinc finger genes are some of the largest gene families in humans, and Zinc finger proteins play an essential role in altering gene expression by acting as transcription factors. Zinc finger proteins are also involved in multiple cell processes, including proliferation, differentiation and development, by interacting with DNA. Here, we reported the transcriptional activities of the domains of zinc finger gene ZNF569 taking advantage of MAPK pathway. Overexpression of ZNF569 in COS-7 cells dramatically inhibited the transcriptional repressor activities of SRE and AP-1, which was also confirmed by subcellular localization analysis. Report assays indicated that the potent repression domains of ZNF569 were the KRAB and ZNF motifs. The results suggested that ZNF569 protein might act as a transcriptional repressor in MAPK signaling pathway to regulate cellular processes.