Churchill Domain Containing Protein 1 (CHURC1)

CHCH protein in all species contains 112 amino acids and has 2 putative C4-type zinc fingers, inspiring the gene name Churchill by analogy to Sir Winston's famous gesture. Human CHCH shares about 70% amino acid identity with fish and frog Chch and 96.4% identity with rat and mouse Chch.

Chch acts as a switch between the different roles played by FGF in early chicken and frog development. FGF induced Chch slowly, which then activated Smad-interacting protein-1 (ZEB2), blocking further induction of mesoderm markers by FGF. Chch was first expressed when cells stopped migrating through the primitive streak, and Chch regulated cell ingression. The International Radiation Hybrid Mapping Consortium mapped the CHCH gene to chromosome 14.