Zinc finger and BTB domain containing 48 (ZBTB48), also known as telomeric zinc-finger associated protein (TZAP), is a protein that directly binds to the double-stranded repeat sequence of telomeres.[1][2] In humans it is encoded by the ZBTB48gene.[3]
Loss of ZBTB48 has been shown to lead to telomere elongation both in cells with long[1] and short telomeres.[2] In addition, overexpression of ZBTB48 in cancer cells maintaining their telomeres based on the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) mechanism leads to trimming of telomeres.[1] Beyond its telomeric function, ZBTB48 acts as a transcriptional activator on a small set of target genes, including mitochondrial fission process 1 (MTFP1)[2] and CDKN2A.[4] ZBTB48 localizes to chromosome 1p36, a region that is frequently rearranged (leiomyoma & leukaemia) or deleted (neuroblastoma, melanoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, pheochromocytoma, and carcinomas of colon and breast) in different human cancers and therefore might be a putative tumour suppressor[5][6][7], but not without dispute.[8]
↑Maris JM, Jensen SJ, Sulman EP, Beltinger CP, Gates K, Allen C, Biegel JA, Brodeur GM, White PS (July 1996). "Cloning, chromosomal localization, physical mapping, and genomic characterization of HKR3". Genomics. 35 (2): 289–98. doi:10.1006/geno.1996.0359. PMID8661141.
↑Maris JM, Jensen J, Sulman EP, Beltinger CP, Allen C, Biegel JA, Brodeur GM, White PS (October 1997). "Human Krüppel-related 3 (HKR3): a candidate for the 1p36 neuroblastoma tumour suppressor gene?". European Journal of Cancer. 33 (12): 1991–6. doi:10.1016/s0959-8049(97)00279-7. PMID9516840.
↑White PS, Maris JM, Sulman EP, Jensen SJ, Kyemba SM, Beltinger CP, Allen C, Kramer DL, Biegel JA, Brodeur GM (October 1997). "Molecular analysis of the region of distal 1p commonly deleted in neuroblastoma". European Journal of Cancer. 33 (12): 1957–61. doi:10.1016/s0959-8049(97)00311-0. PMID9516832.
↑Bauer A, Savelyeva L, Claas A, Praml C, Berthold F, Schwab M (July 2001). "Smallest region of overlapping deletion in 1p36 in human neuroblastoma: a 1 Mbp cosmid and PAC contig". Genes, Chromosomes & Cancer. 31 (3): 228–39. doi:10.1002/gcc.1139. PMID11391793.
Maris JM, Jensen SJ, Sulman EP, Beltinger CP, Gates K, Allen C, Biegel JA, Brodeur GM, White PS (July 1996). "Cloning, chromosomal localization, physical mapping, and genomic characterization of HKR3". Genomics. 35 (2): 289–98. doi:10.1006/geno.1996.0359. PMID8661141.
Maris JM, Jensen J, Sulman EP, Beltinger CP, Allen C, Biegel JA, Brodeur GM, White PS (October 1997). "Human Krüppel-related 3 (HKR3): a candidate for the 1p36 neuroblastoma tumour suppressor gene?". European Journal of Cancer. 33 (12): 1991–6. doi:10.1016/S0959-8049(97)00279-7. PMID9516840.