Alternative titles; symbols
HGNC Approved Gene Symbol: ZNF25
Cytogenetic location: 10p11.21 Genomic coordinates (GRCh38) : 10:37,949,573-37,976,647 (from NCBI)
ZNF25 is a zinc finger transcription factor that appears to play a role in osteoblast differentiation (Twine et al., 2016).
By microarray and literature analyses, Twine et al. (2016) identified human ZNF25 as a putative regulator of osteoblast differentiation. ZNF25 contains 465 amino acids and has an N-terminal Kruppel-associated box (KRAB) repressor domain followed by 12 C2H2-type zinc fingers. ZNF25 is highly conserved in tetrapod vertebrates. Quantitative RT-PCR showed a temporal increase in ZNF25 expression during in vitro osteoblast differentiation, with maximum expression during the late phase of differentiation. Similarly, Western blot analysis revealed increased ZNF25 protein expression during osteoblast differentiation. Immunocytochemical staining showed nuclear and perinuclear ZNF25 localization during osteoblast differentiation. In human femoral neck bone biopsies, ZNF25 localized to active osteoblastic surfaces and osteocytes.
Twine et al. (2016) found that knockdown of ZNF25 in human skeletal stem cells resulted in significant suppression of ALP (ALPL; 171760), a marker of the osteoblastic phenotype. Microarray analysis showed that knockdown of ZNF25 increased expression of genes relevant to osteoblastic differentiation, including MMP1 (120353), LGR5 (606667), and RANBP3L (616391). The authors concluded that ZNF25 is a transcriptional repressor associated with osteoblast differentiation.
By a combination of in situ chromosomal hybridization and somatic cell hybrid analysis, Rousseau-Merck et al. (1992) concluded that the ZNF25 gene is located on 10q, centromeric to a breakpoint in band 10q11.2, in the region 10p11.2-q11.2.
Gross (2024) mapped the ZNF25 gene to chromosome 10p11.21 based on an alignment of the ZNF25 sequence (GenBank BC036038) with the genomic sequence (GRCh38).
Gross, M. B. Personal Communication. Baltimore, Md. 10/4/2024.
Rousseau-Merck, M. F., Tunnacliffe, A., Berger, R., Ponder, B. A. J., Thiesen, H. J. A cluster of expressed zinc finger protein genes in the pericentromeric region of human chromosome 10. Genomics 13: 845-848, 1992. [PubMed: 1639412] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1016/0888-7543(92)90166-p]
Twine, N. A., Harkness, L., Kassem, M., Wilkins, M. R. Transcription factor ZNF25 is associated with osteoblast differentiation of human skeletal stem cells. BMC Genomics 17: 872, 2016. [PubMed: 27814695] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-016-3214-0]