ZSCAN21
Zinc finger and SCAN domain-containing protein 21
Also known as: DKFZp434L134, NY-REN-21, Zipro1, ZNF38, ZSC21_HUMAN
Cross-references: UniProt · Ensembl · Human Protein Atlas · GeneCards · NCBI Gene
Protein identityUniProt · HPA
- UniProt accession
- Q9Y5A6
- Gene
- ZSCAN21
- Ensembl
- ENSG00000166529
- Chromosome
- 7
- Canonical length
- 473 aa
- Protein class
- Predicted intracellular proteins, Transcription factors
- Subcellular location
- Endoplasmic reticulum
OverviewNCBI Gene
Enables DNA-binding transcription activator activity, RNA polymerase II-specific and RNA polymerase II cis-regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding activity. Involved in positive regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II. Predicted to be located in nucleus. [provided by Alliance of Genome Resources, Jul 2025]
Canonical amino-acid sequenceUniProt
473 residues, UniProt reviewed canonical sequence.
>Q9Y5A6|ZSCAN21
1 MMTKVLGMAP VLGPRPPQEQ VGPLMVKVEE KEEKGKYLPS LEMFRQRFRQ FGYHDTPGPR
61 EALSQLRVLC CEWLRPEIHT KEQILELLVL EQFLTILPQE LQAWVQEHCP ESAEEAVTLL
121 EDLERELDEP GHQVSTPPNE QKPVWEKISS SGTAKESPSS MQPQPLETSH KYESWGPLYI
181 QESGEEQEFA QDPRKVRDCR LSTQHEESAD EQKGSEAEGL KGDIISVIIA NKPEASLERQ
241 CVNLENEKGT KPPLQEAGSK KGRESVPTKP TPGERRYICA ECGKAFSNSS NLTKHRRTHT
301 GEKPYVCTKC GKAFSHSSNL TLHYRTHLVD RPYDCKCGKA FGQSSDLLKH QRMHTEEAPY
361 QCKDCGKAFS GKGSLIRHYR IHTGEKPYQC NECGKSFSQH AGLSSHQRLH TGEKPYKCKE
421 CGKAFNHSSN FNKHHRIHTG EKPYWCHHCG KTFCSKSNLS KHQRVHTGEG EAPLocalizationUniProt · AlphaFold · HPA
Whether an antibody against ZSCAN21 can act on the native protein depends on physical access: surface and secreted proteins are reachable by circulating antibodies, intracellular proteins usually are not.
- Antibody reachability
- Intracellular
- Secreted
- No
- Transmembrane segments
- 0
- Mean surface accessibility (rSASA)
- 0.5
- Highest tissue expression
- 13 nTPM
Expression across tissuesHPA
Tissue
- skeletal muscle: 13 nTPM
- liver: 13 nTPM
- tongue: 12 nTPM
- testis: 12 nTPM
- cerebellum: 11 nTPM
- colon: 11 nTPM
Single-cell type
- oocytes: 32 nCPM
- syncytiotrophoblasts: 29 nCPM
- müller glia: 29 nCPM
- cytotrophoblasts: 27 nCPM
- differentiating spermatogonia: 27 nCPM
- undifferentiated spermatogonia: 25 nCPM
Immune cell
- eosinophil: 13 nTPM
- basophil: 13 nTPM
- MAIT T-cell: 11 nTPM
- NK-cell: 11 nTPM
- gdT-cell: 9.9 nTPM
- memory CD8 T-cell: 9 nTPM
Brain region
- white matter: 18 nTPM
- cerebellum: 16 nTPM
- basal ganglia: 15 nTPM
- thalamus: 15 nTPM
- cerebral cortex: 14 nTPM
- midbrain: 14 nTPM
Genetic constraint and essentialitygnomAD · DepMap
Does the body need this protein intact? Low LOEUF or a strong DepMap dependency means loss or blockade of the protein is likely to be felt.
- gnomAD LOEUF (loss-of-function intolerance)
- 1.43
- gnomAD pLI
- 0
- gnomAD missense Z
- 0.25
- DepMap mean gene effect
- -0.07
- DepMap dependency class
- selective
Cancer expressionTCGA
Across TCGA tumor cohorts, this protein is over-expressed in roughly 10% of surveyed tumor types (aggregate summary; per-cohort expression, alteration, and survival load in the interactive view).
OntologyGO
Biological processes
- cell differentiation
- male meiosis I
- positive regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II
- regulation of DNA-templated transcription
- regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II
- spermatogenesis
Molecular functions
- DNA-binding transcription activator activity, RNA polymerase II-specific
- DNA-binding transcription factor activity, RNA polymerase II-specific
- RNA polymerase II cis-regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding
- zinc ion binding
Cellular components
Protein domainsUniProt · Pfam · InterPro
KeywordsUniProt
InteractionsUniProt · HPA
Protein binding partners of ZSCAN21 in the human serome: UniProt-annotated complex subunits plus reported interactors. Each links to its own Seroatlas record.
Antibody and autoantibody relevanceSeroatlas analysis
Seroatlas reads ZSCAN21 as an antibody target. Whether an autoantibody or antibody against ZSCAN21 could matter depends on whether native ZSCAN21 is physically reachable, whether the body needs it intact, and whether it acts in a disease-relevant tissue.
ZSCAN21 is annotated as predominantly intracellular. Intracellular proteins are common autoantibody markers, becoming visible to the immune system after cell injury or altered processing, but are usually markers of disease rather than direct drivers.
Annotation status
The present source text does not explicitly label ZSCAN21 as an autoantigen. Seroatlas presents hypothesis context only and does not manufacture a known-serology claim.
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