Krüppel

Krüppel is a gap gene originally described in Drosophila melanogaster, which encodes a zinc finger transcription factor with four tandemly repeated zinc finger domains. Krüppel means, literally, 'cripple' in German, named for the crippled appearance of mutant larva. Krüppel regulates the expression of several other gap genes. Its human homologs are collectively named Kruppel-like factors, a set of proteins well characterized for their role in carcinogenesis. Krüppel is a gap gene originally described in Drosophila melanogaster, which encodes a zinc finger transcription factor with four tandemly repeated zinc finger domains. Krüppel means, literally, 'cripple' in German, named for the crippled appearance of mutant larva. Krüppel regulates the expression of several other gap genes. Its human homologs are collectively named Kruppel-like factors, a set of proteins well characterized for their role in carcinogenesis. Drosophila melanogaster also has a few paralogs of Krüppel in its genome.