MOLECULAR-CLONING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MOUSE KIN17 CODING FOR A ZN-FINGER PROTEIN THAT PREFERENTIALLY RECOGNIZES BENT DNA

We report the isolation of the mouse Kin17 gene, located on chromosome 2, coding a nuclear Zn-finger protein that has a 39-residue region ho mologous to Escherichia coli RecA protein and that is recognized by an ti-RecA antibodies. Kin17 protein preferentially binds to curved DNA i n vitro and in vivo, suggesting a role in illegitimate recombination a nd in regulation of gene expression. We have shown that the Kin17 gene is about 8 kb in length and displays three exons and two introns. The 5' flanking regions lacks a canonical TATAA box but presents several putative regulatory domains. A major transcription initiation site is located 322 nucleotides upstream of the translation start site. The 1. 7-kb transcript of the Kin17 gene is weakly and ubiquitously expressed in murine tissues and cell lines as determined by Northern analysis. The cross-hybridization of Kin17 cDNA with the genomic DNA of other sp ecies in Southern analysis indicates the conservation of the gene amon g mammals and suggests that the Kin17 gene plays a conserved role in D NA metabolism. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.