ZC3HAV1

[5][6][7] This gene encodes a CCCH-type zinc finger protein that is thought to prevent infection by viruses by targeting viral RNA for degradation, inhibiting its translation as well as affecting programmed viral frameshifting.

[8][9][10] ZAP targets CpG rich RNA viral sequences.

[11] In addition to antiviral activities, ZAP has been reported to inhibit LINE and Alu retrotransposition.

[12] Alternative splicing occurs at this locus and at least four isoform variants have been described with differing anti-viral activities.

[7][8] While not sharing larger homologous regions, ZAP shares the uncommon CCCH zinc finger motif with tristetraprolin (TTP), which binds AU-rich elements (ARE) in RNA and promotes their degradation.

Mechanism of ZAP mediated repression of viral gene expression: ZAP binds to ZAP responsive element(ZRE)-containing viral RNA and, along with its cofactor TRIM25, can either (a) cause RNA degradation by interacting with the putative endonuclease KHNYN or (b) repress messenger RNA translation by inhibiting eIF4A and 4G
Schematic of all four ZAP isoforms and its accessory proteins TRIM25, and KHNYN, which are essential for antiviral activity
ZAP is a potentially broad-acting antiviral factor: Different classification of viruses are both ZAP-sensitive viruses are depicted in black, while ZAP-resistant viruses are in blue