Advances in the Host Antiviral CCCH-Zinc Finger Proteins

Zinc-finger proteins (ZFPs) are the largest transcription factor family in human genome. They have recently become an area of intense study because of their broad range of biological functions, including development, differentiation, metabolism, autophagy, cancer progression and more recently because they are attractive targets for antiviral therapy [1]. The zinc fingers was first recognized as relatively small protein motifs in Xenopus transcription factor IIIA (TFIIIA), which contain conserved cysteine (Cys) and histidine (His) ligands [1]. Till now, numerous zinc-binding motifs have been identified as zinc fingers which are encoded by 1% of the mammalian genes. To date, 8 different classes of zinc finger motifs have been reported, including Cys2His2 (C2H2) like, Gag knuckle, Treble clef, Zinc ribbon, Zn2/Cys6, TAZ2 domain like, Zinc binding loops and Metallothionein. Different types of zinc finger motifs show great diversity of functions in various cellular processes, such as transcriptional activation, translation regulation, metabolism and cell proliferation and apoptosis [2].