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Mol Cell Biol, July 1998, p. 4235-4244, Vol. 18, No. 7
Division of Developmental Genetics,
Received 17 December 1997/Returned for modification 23 January
1998/Accepted 3 April 1998
The BCL6 gene, which has been identified from the
chromosomal translocation breakpoint in B-cell lymphomas, functions as
a sequence-specific transcriptional repressor. We cloned a novel Bcl6-homologous gene, BAZF (encoding
Bcl6-associated zinc finger protein). The predicted amino acid sequence
of BAZF indicated that the BTB/POZ domain and the five repeats of the
Krüppel-like zinc finger motif are located in the
NH2-terminal region and the COOH-terminal region,
respectively. BAZF associated with Bcl6 at the BTB/POZ domain and
localized in the nucleus. Since zinc finger motifs of BAZF were 94%
identical to those of Bcl6 at the amino acid level, BAZF bound
specifically to the DNA-binding sequence of Bcl6 and functioned as
a transcriptional repressor. The repressor activity was
associated with both the BTB/POZ domain and the middle portion of BAZF.
The 17-amino-acid sequence in the middle portion was completely
conserved between BAZF and Bcl6, and the conserved region was critical
for the repressor activity. Expression of BAZF mRNA,
like that of Bcl6 mRNA, was induced in activated
lymphocytes as an immediate-early gene. Therefore, the biochemical
character of BAZF is similar to that of Bcl6 although the tissue
expression pattern of BAZF differs from that of
Bcl6. This is apparently the first report of a gene family
whose members encode zinc finger proteins with the BTB/POZ domain.
0270-7306/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
BAZF, a Novel Bcl6 Homolog, Functions as a Transcriptional
Repressor
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of
Developmental Genetics, Center for Biomedical Science, Chiba University School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8670, Japan. Phone: 81-43-226-2181. Fax: 81-43-226-2183. E-mail:
tokuhisa{at}med.m.chiba-u.ac.jp.
Mol Cell Biol, July 1998, p. 4235-4244, Vol. 18, No. 7
0270-7306/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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