CASZ1, Zinc finger protein castor homolog 1, Castor-related protein, Zinc finger protein 693

The human castor zinc finger 1 gene (CASZ1) regulates the production of the castor transcription factor, having increased expression when cells of neural and mesenchymal origin are induced to differentiation. CASZ1 is expressed in a number of human tumors and it localizes to a genomic region frequently lost in tumors of neuroectodermal origin. The CASZ1 gene generates 2mRNA isoforms hCASZ5 and hCASZ11 that could encode proteins containing 5 or 11 zinc finger motifs, respectively. The proteins may be especially labile. Expect a band at 125kD for hCASZ5 and 190kD for hCASZ11 in fresh lysates.