Inhibition of muscle differentiation by the novel muscleblind-related protein CHCR.

Growth factor withdrawal from proliferating myoblasts induces the expression of muscle-specific genes essential for myogenesis. By suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH), we have cloned a novel human cDNA that encodes a Cys3His zinc finger protein named CHCR (Cys3His CCG1-Required). CHCR is related to Muscleblind (Mbl), a Drosophila melanogaster protein required for terminal muscle differentiation.