Engineered zinc-finger transcription factors activate OCT4 (POU5F1), SOX2, KLF4, c-MYC (MYC) and miR302/367.

Artificial transcription factors are powerful tools for regulating gene expression. Here we report results with engineered zinc-finger transcription factors (ZF-TFs) targeting four protein-coding genes, OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and c-MYC, and one noncoding ribonucleic acid (RNA) gene, the microRNA (miRNA) miR302/367 cluster. We designed over 300 ZF-TFs whose targets lie within 1 kb of the transcriptional start sites (TSSs), screened them for increased messenger RNA or miRNA levels in transfected cells, and identified potent ZF-TF activators for each gene.