Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 16, 2026

Genome Editing with CompoZr Custom Zinc Finger Nucleases ZFNs
Published on: June 14, 2012
The zinc finger proteins ZNF644 and WIZ regulate the G9a/GLP complex for gene repression
Chunjing Bian1, Qiang Chen1, Xiaochun Yu1
1Division of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, United States.
Abstract:
The G9a/GLP complex mediates mono- and dimethylation of Lys9 of histone H3 at specific gene loci, which is associated with transcriptional repression. However, the molecular mechanism by which the G9a/GLP complex is targeted to the specific gene loci for H3K9 methylation is unclear. In this study, with unbiased protein affinity purification, we found ZNF644 and WIZ as two core subunits in the G9a/GLP complex. ZNF644 and WIZ interact with the transcription activation domain of G9a and GLP, respectively. Moreover, both ZNF644 and WIZ contain multiple zinc finger motifs that recognize consensus DNA sequences. ZNF644 and WIZ target G9a and GLP to the chromatin and mediate the G9a/GLP complex-dependent H3K9 methylation as well as gene repression. Thus, our studies reveal two key subunits in the G9a/GLP complex that regulate the function of this histone methyltransferase complex.
Related Concept Videos
Co-activators and Co-repressors
Co-activators and Co-repressors
Eukaryotic Transcription Inhibitors
Eukaryotic transcription inhibitors usually contain two distinct domains, a...
RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins
Combinatorial Gene Control
The expression of more than 30,000 genes is controlled by approximately 2000-3000 transcription factors. This is possible because a single transcription factor can recognize more than one regulatory sequence. The specificity in gene...
Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway

