Zimp encodes a homologue of mouse Miz1 and PIAS3 and is an essential gene in Drosophila melanogaster.
The related mouse proteins Miz1 and PIAS3, which have predicted zinc finger domains, interact with the transcription factors Msx2 and STAT3, modulating the ability of Msx2 and STAT3 to regulate transcription. Here, we describe a Drosophila gene, zimp, that encodes a protein with similarity to Miz1 and PIAS3. The zimp gene appears to be post-transcriptionally regulated, as three alternatively spliced forms are detected in a cDNA library screen and on an RNA blot. In addition, all three zimp transcripts are detected in embryonic mRNA, but only two of the transcripts are detected in adult mRNA. The three transcripts have the ability to encode two proteins, of 554 and 522 amino acids. The two Zimp amino acid sequences share an amino-terminal 515-amino-acid region and differ in their carboxy-termini. These proteins and related proteins in other organisms, including mammals, C. elegans, yeast, and plants, share a highly conserved region predicted to form a zinc finger. Deletion of the zimp gene or P-element insertion in zimp is lethal; thus, zimp is an essential gene in Drosophila. These data underscore the potential importance of Zimp-related proteins cross-species, and conservation of the putative zinc finger domain suggests that it is functionally important.