Biology:ZFY

Short description: Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Generic protein structure example

Zinc finger Y-chromosomal protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ZFY gene of the Y chromosome.

This gene encodes a zinc finger-containing protein that may function as a transcription factor. This gene was once a candidate gene for the testis-determining factor (TDF) and was erroneously referred to as TDF.

Humans express a single ZFY gene with two splice variants, while mice express two paralogous copies, Zfy1 and Zfy2. During spermatogenesis, wrongful expression of either Zfy1 or Zfy2 results in programmed cell death, apoptosis, at the mid-pachytene checkpoint. In mice, Zfy genes are necessary for meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI). In Zfy knockout spermatocytes, sex chromosomes are incorrectly silenced. Thus, Zfy performs three functions at the mid-pachytene checkpoint: (1) promote MSCI, (2) monitor MSCI progress, and (3) execute cells, via apoptosis, that fail to undergo MSCI.

In humans, ZFY is most broadly expresses in the testis and prostate. However, 20 other tissues also express ZFY, such as esophagus, urinary bladder, bone marrow, small intestine, appendix and gall bladder.

Disorders associated with the ZFY gene include campomelic dysplasia, cystadenofibroma, and Frasier syndrome.

Further reading

• "Onset of sex differentiation: dialog between genes and cells". Archives of Medical Research 32 (6): 553–8. 2002. doi:10.1016/S0188-4409(01)00317-4. PMID 11750730. 
• "Alternating zinc fingers in the human male associated protein ZFY: 2D NMR structure of an even finger and implications for "jumping-linker" DNA recognition". Biochemistry 30 (14): 3371–86. April 1991. doi:10.1021/bi00228a004. PMID 1849423. 
• "Alternating zinc fingers in the human male associated protein ZFY: refinement of the NMR structure of an even finger by selective deuterium labeling and implications for DNA recognition". Biochemistry 30 (29): 7063–72. July 1991. doi:10.1021/bi00243a005. PMID 1854720. 
• "Comparison of ZFY and ZFX gene structure and analysis of alternative 3' untranslated regions of ZFY". Nucleic Acids Research 19 (10): 2579–86. May 1991. doi:10.1093/nar/19.10.2579. PMID 2041734. 
• "Comparison of human ZFY and ZFX transcripts". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 87 (5): 1681–5. March 1990. doi:10.1073/pnas.87.5.1681. PMID 2308929. Bibcode: 1990PNAS...87.1681P. 
• "Evidence for distinguishable transcripts of the putative testis determining gene (ZFY) and mapping of homologous cDNA sequences to chromosomes X,Y and 9". Nucleic Acids Research 17 (8): 2987–99. April 1989. doi:10.1093/nar/17.8.2987. PMID 2498838. 
• "The putative testis-determining factor and related genes are expressed as discrete-sized transcripts in adult gonadal and somatic tissues". American Journal of Human Genetics 45 (6): 942–52. December 1989. PMID 2511751. 
• "The sex-determining region of the human Y chromosome encodes a finger protein". Cell 51 (6): 1091–104. December 1987. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(87)90595-2. PMID 3690661. 
• "ZFY gene expression and retention in human prostate adenocarcinoma". Genes, Chromosomes & Cancer 6 (2): 65–72. February 1993. doi:10.1002/gcc.2870060202. PMID 7680890. 
• "Sex chromosomal transposable element accumulation and male-driven substitutional evolution in humans". Molecular Biology and Evolution 17 (5): 804–12. May 2000. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026359. PMID 10779541. 
• "Three thousand years of questioning sex determination". Cytogenetics and Cell Genetics 91 (1–4): 186–91. 2001. doi:10.1159/000056842. PMID 11173854. 
• "The male-specific region of the human Y chromosome is a mosaic of discrete sequence classes". Nature 423 (6942): 825–37. June 2003. doi:10.1038/nature01722. PMID 12815422. Bibcode: 2003Natur.423..825S. 
• "Sex differences in structure and expression of the sex chromosome genes CHD1Z and CHD1W in zebra finches". Molecular Biology and Evolution 21 (2): 384–96. February 2004. doi:10.1093/molbev/msh027. PMID 14660691.