The human ZBP-89 homolog, located at chromosome 3q21, represses gastrin gene expression. Mamm. Genome 9:165–167

Rat ZBP-89 cDNA encodes an 89-kDa, zinc finger protein that binds a GC-rich element in the human gastrin promoter. This element modulates both basal- and epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induction of gastrin gene expression (Merchant et al. 1995). Coexpression of ZBP-89 and gastrin reporter constructs blocks EGF induction and represses basal gastrin gene expression (Mer-chant et al. 1996). Rat ZBP-89 similarly binds to and represses the activity of the ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) promoter, concomi-tantly inhibiting cell proliferation (Remington et al. 1997). ZBP-89 shares 99 % amino acid sequence identity with two closely related mouse homologs, G-rich box-binding protein (GRBBP; Passantino et al. 1996) and BFCOL1 (Hasegawa and de Crombrugghe 1997). Mutations of the BFCOL1 binding site in the pro a2(I) collagen promoter inhibit BFCOL1 binding and result in increased pro-moter activity (Hasegawa and de Crombrugghe, 1997). Collec