Zfp39, whose full function and common aliases are not clearly elaborated in the given references, has been associated with maintaining embryonic stem (ES) cell pluripotency and self-renewal. In murine ES cells, through signed weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), it was identified, along with other genes, as having important roles in these processes. This finding indicates its potential involvement in pathways related to ES cell regulation [1].

In an experiment examining candidate imprinted genes on mouse chromosome 11, Zfp39 was among the genes tested. However, no evidence of imprinting in the brain was found for Zfp39, though strain-biased expression was observed for some other genes in the study [2].

In conclusion, Zfp39 seems to be important for maintaining ES cell pluripotency and self-renewal, as shown through network analysis in murine ES cells. Although no imprinting was detected in the brain in the chromosome 11 gene-testing experiment, the study of Zfp39 using mouse models contributes to understanding ES cell biology and potentially the complexity of gene imprinting and expression regulation.

References:

1. Mason, Mike J, Fan, Guoping, Plath, Kathrin, Zhou, Qing, Horvath, Steve. 2009. Signed weighted gene co-expression network analysis of transcriptional regulation in murine embryonic stem cells. In BMC genomics, 10, 327. doi:10.1186/1471-2164-10-327. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19619308/

2. Tuskan, Robert G, Tsang, Shirley, Sun, Zhonghe, Munroe, David J, Reilly, Karlyne M. 2007. Real-time PCR analysis of candidate imprinted genes on mouse chromosome 11 shows balanced expression from the maternal and paternal chromosomes and strain-specific variation in expression levels. In Epigenetics, 3, 43-50. doi:. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18188004/