An expanding job description for Blimp-1/PRDM1

The master transcriptional regulator Blimp-1/PRDM1 contains an N-terminal PR/SET domain and five C2H2 zinc fingers located near its C-terminus that mediate DNA binding, nuclear import and recruitment of histone modifying enzymes. These activities account for its ability to control cell-fate decisions in the embryo and govern tissue homeostasis in multiple cell types in the adult organism. New experiments demonstrate an increasing degree of complexity associated with Blimp-1/PRDM1 target site selection and its associations with epigenetic modifiers. Our current understanding of how this single unique species within the family of structurally similar PRDM proteins regulates gene expression patterns and governs developmental programmes in different cell lineages is discussed.