Identification of ZBP-89 as a Novel GATA-1 Associated Transcription Factor Involved in Megakaryocytic and Erythroid Development

A complete understanding of the transcriptional regulation of developmental lineages requires that all relevant factors be identified. Here, we have taken a proteomic approach to identify novel proteins associated with GATA-1, a lineage-restricted zinc finger transcription factor required for terminal erythroid and megakaryocytic maturation. We identify the Krüppel-type zinc finger transcription factor ZBP-89 as a component of multiprotein complexes involving GATA-1 and its essential cofactor Friend of GATA-1 (FOG-1). Using chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, we show that GATA-1 and ZBP-89 co-occupy cis-regulatory elements of certain erythroid and megakaryocyte-specific genes, including an enhancer of the GATA-1 gene itself. Loss-of-function studies in zebrafish and mice demonstrate an in vivo requirement for ZBP-89 in megakaryopoiesis and definitive erythropoiesis, but not primitive erythropoiesis, phenocopying aspects of FOG-1 and GATA-1 deficient animals. These findings identify ZBP-89 as a novel transcription factor involved in erythroid and megakaryocytic development and suggest that it serves a cooperative function with GATA-1 and/or FOG-1 in a developmental stage-specific manner.