CLUSTERED ORGANIZATION OF KRUPPEL ZINC-FINGER GENES AT XP11.23, FLANKING A TRANSLOCATION BREAKPOINT AT OATL1 - A PHYSICAL MAP WITH LOCUS ASSIGNMENTS FOR ZNF21, ZNF41, ZNF81, AND ELK1

The ZNF21, ZNF41, and ZNF81 genes encode Kruppel-type zinc-finger prot eins (ZFPs) and have previously been mapped to chromosome Xp. Publishe d data describing the clustering of ZFP genes on human autosomes led u s to investigate the organization of ZNF21, ZNF41, and ZNF81 on the X chromosome. Rodent-human hybrid analysis sublocalized all three genes to Xp22.11-p11.23. ZNF21, ZNF41, and ZNF81 were then shown to segregat e within a series of YACs (95 to 730 kb) containing known markers at X p11.23, such that these YACs could be assembled into a contig spanning approximately 1.5 Rib of DNA. Southern analysis of intact YACs and YA C DNAs cut with rare-cutter restriction enzymes enabled us to establis h the spatial organization of the ZFP gene cluster, the OATL1 pseudoge ne, the recurrent t(X;18) chromosome translocation breakpoint in synov ial sarcoma, and the previously described cluster of ARAF1, SYN1, TIMP , and PFC genes. We have assigned the ETS-related gene ELK1 to a locus tightly Linked to the PFC gene; the entire cluster of five genes is c ontained within a distance of 120 kb. ZNF41 maps to a 440-kb YAC spann ing this region, while a more proximal cluster comprising the ZNF21 an d ZNF81 genes lies 150 kb distal to the chromosome breakpoint associat ed with synovial sarcoma. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.