Early Hematopoietic Zinc Finger Protein (EHZF)

The deduced 1311-amino acid protein contains a negatively charged 6-amino acid motif in the N-terminal region followed by 30 C2H2 Kruppel-type zinc fingers.ZNF521 shares 96% identity with the mouse ortholog and 63.5% homology with OAZ (ZNF423). Northern blot analysis of human tissues detected high expression in brain and spleen, moderate expression in heart, placenta, lung, liver, skeletal muscle, kidney, lymph, thymus, and fetal liver, and low expression in pancreas and bone marrow with no expression in peripheral blood cells. RT-PCR showed high expression in several hematopoietic cell lines but not in normal human B or T cells. Significant levels were also detected in about half of acute myelogenous leukemias examined.