MOLECULAR-CLONING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ZNF202 - A NEW GENE AT 11Q23.3 ENCODING TESTIS-SPECIFIC ZINC-FINGER PROTEINS

Two distinct regions of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in breast carcino mas were previously identified at chromosome 11q23. With the aim of id entifying a tumor suppressor gene, we undertook the isolation and char acterization of genes within LOH region 2, defined between loci D11S13 45 and D11S1316, which spans an area of about 1 Mb. Here, we describe the cloning and characterization of a new gene, ZNF202. The gene, whic h spans a genomic area of approximately 10 kb, is almost exclusively e xpressed in testis as a 4-kb mRNA. The predicted amino acid sequence o f the protein product revealed significant homologies with zinc finger proteins, indicating that the ANF202 protein may function as a transc ription factor. The presence of multiple CK2 and PKC phosphorylation s ites suggests that its activity may be regulated by phosphorylation. T he gene is also expressed in breast carcinoma cell lines. However, mut ation analysis of 39 breast cancer samples revealed no evidence of mut ations, indicating that ZNF202 is unlikely to be involved in the patho genesis of this neoplasm. Nevertheless, a role for ZNF202 in the tumor igenic process of other tissues cannot be excluded. (C) 1998 Academic Press.