Characterization of the mouse Kid1 gene and identification of a highly related gene, Kid2

Kid1 encodes a zinc finger protein that has been implicated in renal cell d ifferentiation. Levels of Kid1 mRNA correlate with maturation of kidney tub ule epithelia in rat post-natal kidney development and during kidney regene ration following injury. KID1 is a putative transcriptional repressor, cont aining a KRAB domain at its amino terminus that mediates transcriptional re pression in transient cell transfection assays when fused to a heterologous DNA-binding domain. In this paper, we describe the isolation and character ization of the mouse homologue of Kid1 and the identification of a novel hi ghly related mouse gene, Kid2, Kid1 and Kid2 are tightly linked on mouse ch romosome 11 and show conservation across mammals. Both genes are expressed predominantly in the mouse adult kidney and brain, but transcripts are also detected in embryonic brain, kidney, gut and lung, suggesting an additiona l role for these genes during mouse development. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.