ZNF385B is characteristically expressed in germinal center B cells and involved in B-cell apoptosis.
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Iijima K, Yamada H, Miharu M, Imadome K, Miyagawa Y, Akimoto S, Kobayashi K, Okita H, Nakazawa A, Fujiwara S, Fujimoto J, Kiyokawa N
ZNF385B is characteristically expressed in germinal center B cells and involved in B-cell apoptosis.
Eur J Immunol. 2012 Dec;42(12):3405-15. doi: 10.1002/eji.201242530. Epub 2012 Oct 16.
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- 22945289 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
We previously identified zinc finger (ZF) protein ZNF385B as a molecule specifically expressed in Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) among hematologic malignancies. Here, we investigated ZNF385B expression in healthy B cells in a variety of hematological tissues by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. ZNF385B expression was found to be limited to a subset of GC B cells, the healthy counterpart to BL B cells. To elucidate the function of ZNF385B in healthy B cells, we established a tetracycline-controlled protein-inducible system in B-cell lines and observed that ectopic expression of the longest transcript variant of ZNF385B, possessing four ZF domains, induced upregulation of PERP and FAS/CD95, a downstream target of p53, and activation of caspase, resulting in apoptosis induction. However, a ZNF385B deletion mutant with three ZF domains corresponding to shorter isoforms, did not induce upregulation; rather it inhibited apoptosis induced by CD20 cross-linking and BCR stimulation. The direct binding of ZNF385B with p53 has suggested the involvement of ZNF385B in B-cell apoptosis via modulation of p53 transactivation; our data indicate that ZNF385B characteristically expressed in GC B cells has both proapoptotic and antiapoptotic activities depending on the type of isoform and should be a novel player in GC B-cell selection.