Characterization of a mouse multigene family that encodes zinc finger structures.

The Drosophila segmentation gene Krüppel encodes multiple tandemly repeated units predicted to form DNA-binding zinc fingers. We have isolated 23 bacteriophages, containing nonoverlapping inserts from a mouse genomic DNA library, on the basis of cross-hybridization under nonstringent conditions to a probe corresponding to the Krüppel finger region. Nucleotide sequence analysis of six phage DNAs indicated that they all contained regions with similarity to Krüppel and potentially encoded zinc finger domains. Within these regions, the level of similarity to Krüppel was particularly high between successive fingers. Northern (RNA) blotting analysis suggested that the mouse sequences belonged to different genes, the expression of some of which was modulated during cell differentiation and development. Hybridization experiments suggested that the similarity between some of the genes extended outside of the finger regions. In conclusion, our data suggest that the mouse genome contains a large family of evolutionarily related genes encoding possible trans-acting factors. These genes are likely to play a regulatory role at the transcriptional level.