Genomic structure and DNA binding properties of the human zinc finger transcriptional repressor AP-2rep (KLF12).

We recently cloned a novel murine transcriptional repressor, the Krüppel-like zinc finger protein AP-2rep (HGMW-approved symbol KLF12), that binds to a regulatory element in the AP-2alpha gene promoter. In the present study, we characterize the human AP-2rep homolog and describe expression patterns in human urogenital and lymphoma cell lines. The predicted human protein of 402 amino acids exhibits 95.8% identity and 98.5% similarity to the murine AP-2rep peptide. The genomic locus of human AP-2rep consists of seven exons and was assigned to chromosome 13q22 by fluorescence in situ hybridization to metaphase chromosomes. Human AP-2rep repressed both reporter expression from a transiently transfected AP-2alpha promoter and the endogenous AP-2alpha gene and inversely was negatively regulated by AP-2alpha. The consensus motif CAGTGGG was identified by an in vitro binding site selection assay. In summary, our data further point to an important role of AP-2rep as a transcriptional silencer and reveal reciprocal regulation of AP-2alpha and AP-2rep.