Scientists at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and the University of Michigan have proved that a technique used to study molecular structures is accurate enough to analyze a class of proteins that help control the activity of genes. For this investigation, Hopkins researchers supplied a number of chemicals known as zinc-binding proteins. The compositions of these chemicals were already well characterized through other methods. First identified in 1985, zinc-finger proteins have since been found in a wide array of biological systems.
Scientists believe they play an important role in making genes active or inactive.
Zinc finger proteins are an important key to how the same genes can do so many different things. Scientists are just beginning to understand how this process works. For example, Wilm's tumor, a common inherited childhood kidney tumor, has been linked to a mutation in a gene known as WT1, a gene that directs the production of a zinc-finger protein. This protein will normally turn off genes that promote growth of the kidney. When WT1 mutates, though, this growth continues unchecked, producing tumors.