ZNF263 is a transcriptional regulator of heparin and heparan sulfate biosynthesis
Ryan J. Weiss, Philipp N. Spahn, Alejandro Gómez Toledo, Austin W.T. Chiang, Benjamin P. Kellman, Jie Li, Christopher Benner, Christopher K. Glass, Philip L.S.M. Gordts, Nathan E. Lewis, Jeffrey D. Esko
Abstract
Significance Heparin is the most widely prescribed biopharmaceutical worldwide due to its potent anticoagulant activity. Therapeutic heparin is sourced primarily from porcine entrails and bovine lung. Mast cells appear to be the primary cell type that produces heparin, but all cells make a related polysaccharide, heparan sulfate. Understanding the factors that regulate the production of anticoagulant heparin would provide tools for bioengineering heparin. Here we provide evidence that key sulfotransferases in heparin/heparan sulfate production are under repression by the zinc finger protein ZNF263.