Zinc finger and BTB domain containing 48 (ZBTB48), also known as telomeric zinc-finger associated protein (TZAP), is a protein that directly binds to the double-stranded repeat sequence of telomeres.[5][6] In humans it is encoded by the ZBTB48 gene.[7]

AliasesZBTB48, HKR3, ZNF855, pp9964, zinc finger and BTB domain containing 48, TZAP, telomeric zinc-finger associated protein Quick facts Available structures, PDB ...
Close
Loss of ZBTB48 has been shown to lead to telomere elongation both in cells with long[5] and short telomeres.[6] In addition, overexpression of ZBTB48 in cancer cells maintaining their telomeres based on the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) mechanism leads to trimming of telomeres.[5] Beyond its telomeric function, ZBTB48 acts as a transcriptional activator on a small set of target genes, including mitochondrial fission process 1 (MTFP1)[6] and CDKN2A.[8] ZBTB48 localizes to chromosome 1p36, a region that is frequently rearranged (leiomyoma & leukaemia) or deleted (neuroblastoma, melanoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, pheochromocytoma, and carcinomas of colon and breast) in different human cancers and therefore might be a putative tumour suppressor,[9][10][11] but not without dispute.[12]