Journal of Biological Chemistry
Volume 272, Issue 44, 31 October 1997, Pages 27877-27885
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NUCLEIC ACIDS, PROTEIN SYNTHESIS, AND MOLECULAR GENETICS
Direct Interaction of the KRAB/Cys2-His2Zinc Finger Protein ZNF74 with a Hyperphosphorylated Form of the RNA Polymerase II Largest Subunit*

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We previously identified ZNF74 as a developmentally expressed gene commonly deleted in DiGeorge syndrome.ZNF74 encodes an RNA-binding protein tightly associated with the nuclear matrix and belongs to a large subfamily of Cys2-His2 zinc finger proteins containing a KRAB (Kruppel-associated box) repressor motif. We now report on the multifunctionality of the zinc finger domain of ZNF74. This nucleic acid binding domain is shown here to function as a nuclear matrix targeting sequence and to be involved in protein-protein interaction. By far-Western analysis and coimmunoprecipitation studies, we demonstrate that ZNF74 interacts, via its zinc finger domain, with the hyperphosphorylated largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (pol IIo) but not with the hypophosphorylated form. The importance of the phosphorylation in this interaction is supported by the observation that phosphatase treatment inhibits ZNF74 binding. Double immunofluorescence experiments indicate that ZNF74 colocalizes with the pol IIo and the SC35 splicing factor in irregularly shaped subnuclear domains. Thus, ZNF74 sublocalization in nuclear domains enriched in pre-mRNA maturating factors, its RNA binding activity, and its direct phosphodependent interaction with the pol IIo, a form of the RNA polymerase functionally associated with pre- mRNA processing, suggest a role for this member of the KRAB multifinger protein family in RNA processing.

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*

This work was supported by grants from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Medical Research Council of Canada (to M. A.).The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. The article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

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Supported by a studentship from the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec and by a one-year studentship from Bio-Méga (Montréal).

Supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec.