Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41168166›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Young KRAB-zinc finger gene clusters are highly dynamic incubators of ERV-driven genetic heterogeneity in mice.

Melania Bruno, Sharaf M Farhana, Apratim Mitra, Kevin Costello, Dawn E Watkins-Chow, Glennis A Logsdon, Craig W Gambogi, Beth L Dumont, Ben E Black, Thomas M Keane and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Melania BrunoThe Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. melania.bruno@nih.gov.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8401-7744
Sharaf M FarhanaThe Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Apratim MitraThe Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3279-0054
Kevin CostelloDepartment of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK.
Dawn E Watkins-ChowThe Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Glennis A LogsdonDepartment of Genetics, Epigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2396-0656
Craig W GambogiDepartment of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Penn Center for Genome Integrity, Epigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Beth L DumontThe Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0918-0389
Ben E BlackDepartment of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Penn Center for Genome Integrity, Epigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3707-9483
Thomas M KeaneEuropean Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7532-6898
Anne C Ferguson-SmithDepartment of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7608-5894
Ryan K DaleThe Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2664-3744
Todd S MacfarlanThe Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. todd.macfarlan@nih.gov.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2495-9809

Funding

Mechanisms of Mammalian Epigenome ReprogrammingZIAHD008933 · NICHD · EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT · PI MACFARLAN, TODD SCOTT · 2013 to 2025
$19.1M
NICHD Bioinformatics and Scientific Programming CoreZICHD008986 · NICHD · EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT · PI DALE, RYAN · 2019 to 2025
$17.4M
Centromere identity, strength, and regulationR35GM130302 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI Ben E. Black · 2019 to 2026
$4.3M
Intramural NIH HHS ZIA HD008933Intramural NIH HHS ZIC HD008986NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM130302Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

KRAB-zinc finger proteins (KZFPs) comprise the largest family of mammalian transcription factors, rapidly evolving within and between species. Most KZFPs in human and mice have been found to repress endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) and other retrotransposons, with KZFP gene numbers correlating with the ERV load across species, suggesting coevolution. Whether new KZFPs emerge in response to ERV invasions is currently unknown. Using a combination of long-read sequencing technologies and genome assembly, we present a detailed comparative analysis of young KZFP gene clusters in the mouse lineage, which has undergone recent KZFP gene expansion and ERV infiltration. Detailed annotation of KZFP genes in a cluster on Mus musculus Chromosome 4 reveals parallel expansion and diversification of this locus in different mouse strains (C57BL/6 J, 129S1/SvImJ and CAST/EiJ) and species (Mus spretus and Mus pahari). Our data supports a model by which new ERV integrations within young KZFP gene clusters likely promoted recombination events leading to the emergence of new KZFPs that repress them. At the same time, ERVs also increased their numbers by duplication instead of retrotransposition alone, unraveling a new mechanism for ERV enrichment at these loci.

Indexed as

Endogenous RetrovirusesGenetic HeterogeneityMultigene FamilyRepressor ProteinsZinc FingersAnimalsEvolution, MolecularMiceMice, Inbred C57BLRetroelementsRepressor ProteinsRetroelements

Identifiers

PMID41168166
PMCPMC12575710

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.