SZ is a neurodevelopmental disorder with symptoms associated with defects in cortical circuitry [12]. Therefore, we assayed transcript levels in neural progenitors isolated from rat forebrain at embryonic day 11 (E11). This population of progenitor cells give rise to cortical and striatal neurons during embryonic development. During this developmental time window, this population of progenitor cells express ZNF804a transcript as measured by qRT-PCR (data not shown). To identify SZ associated transcripts that are regulated downstream of ZNF804a, we subcloned human ZNF804a into a plasmid with a constitutive promoter (pCAG) creating pCAG-hZNF804a. We also added an epitope-tag to ZNF804a so we could localize the expressed protein and perform ChIP assays. 24 hours after transfection of pCAG-hZNF804a immunocytochemistry with anti-myc-tag antibodies revealed a predominantly nuclear localization of ZNF804a (Figure 1A). We also observed nuclear localization of endogenous ZNF804a protein in cortical progenitor cells in vivo using an antibody directed against ZNF804a protein (Figure 1B). Furthermore, using subcellular fractionation, we observed endogenous ZNF804a protein was absent in cytoplasmic fraction but was clearly present in the nuclear fraction (Figure 1C). These results suggest endogenous
