Clustered organization of Krüppel zinc-finger genes at Xp11.23, flanking a translocation breakpoint at OATL1: a physical map with locus assignments for ZNF21, ZNF41, ZNF81, and ELK1.

The ZNF21, ZNF41, and ZNF81 genes encode Krüppel-type zinc-finger proteins (ZFPs) and have previously been mapped to chromosome Xp. Published data describing the clustering of ZFP genes on human autosomes led us to investigate the organization of ZNF21, ZNF41, and ZNF81 on the X chromosome. Rodent-human hybrid analysis sublocalized all three genes to Xp22.11-p11.23. ZNF21, ZNF41, and ZNF81 were then shown to segregate within a series of YACs (95 to 730 kb) containing known markers at Xp11.23, such that these YACs could be assembled into a contig spanning approximately 1.5 Mb of DNA. Southern analysis of intact YACs and YAC DNAs cut with rare-cutter restriction enzymes enabled us to establish the spatial organization of the ZFP gene cluster, the OATL1 pseudogene, the recurrent t(X;18) chromosome translocation breakpoint in synovial sarcoma, and the previously described cluster of ARAF1, SYN1, TIMP, and PFC genes. We have assigned the ETS-related gene ELK1 to a locus tightly linked to the PFC gene; the entire cluster of five genes is contained within a distance of 120 kb. ZNF41 maps to a 440-kb YAC spanning this region, while a more proximal cluster comprising the ZNF21 and ZNF81 genes lies 150 kb distal to the chromosome breakpoint associated with synovial sarcoma.