Cytosolic Iron Sulfur Protein Assembly Protein 1 (CIAO1)

The Wilms tumor gene (WT1) on 11p13 is involved in regulating cell cycle progression and apoptosis. In an attempt to dissect the molecular mechanisms of transcriptional activation and repression by WT1, and to identify other proteins that may be involved in kidney and hematopoietic cell tumorigenesis, several groups have studied WT1-interacting proteins. WT1 also interacts with and regulates the transcriptional activity of steroidogenic factor-1, a key molecule in gonadal development.

CIAO1 is a 339-amino acid polypeptide containing 7 WD40 or beta-transducin repeats. It can inhibit the transcriptional activation function of WT1, but does not affect WT1-mediated transcriptional repression.