Zinc finger protein 304 (ZNF304)

Zinc finger protein 304 (ZNF304) is a member of the Krüppel-associated box (KRAB) domain-containing C2H2-type zinc finger protein family. It acts as a transcriptional repressor and is involved in epigenetic gene silencing, recruiting corepressor complexes that modify chromatin to silence gene expression. ZNF304 is upregulated in several cancers, where it promotes cancer cell survival, growth, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis by silencing tumor suppressor genes through promoter hypermethylation and chromatin remodeling. Its biological roles extend to the regulation of embryonic stem cell gene silencing via H3K27me3 modification, and it is implicated in the metastatic process of cancer. There are currently no drugs directly targeting ZNF304, but its central role in silencing tumor suppressor genes makes it a relevant potential therapeutic target and cancer biomarker.

Other names

ZNF304KRAB-containing zinc finger proteinKRAB domain-containing zinc finger protein 304Zinc finger protein 304

Repression of gene transcription via recruitment of corepressor complexes (such as TRIM28/KAP1, DNMT1, histone methyltransferases). Induction of DNA hypermethylation and histone trimethylation (H3K27me3), leading to epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor genes.