Molecular Modeling and Phylogeny of the Krüppel-like Factor 4 (cKLF4) Protein from the Arabian Camel, Camelus dromedarius

Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) is a pluripotency transcription factor that helps in generating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We sequenced for the first time the full coding sequence of Camelus dromedarius KLF4 (cKLF4), which is also known as the Arabian camel. Bioinformatics analysis revealed the molecular weight and the isoelectric point of cKLF4 protein to be 53.043 kDa and 8.74, respectively. The predicted cKLF4 protein sequence shows high identity with some other species as follows: 98% with Bactrian camel and 89% with alpaca KLF4 proteins. A three-dimensional (3D) structure was built based on the available crystal structure of the Mus musculus KLF4 (mKLF4) of 82 residues (PDB: 2 WBS) and by predicting 400 residues using bioinformatics software. The comparison confirms the presence of the zinc finger domains in cKLF4 protein. Phylogenetic analysis showed that KLF4 from the Arabian camel is grouped with the Bactrian camel, alpaca, cattle, and pig. This study will help in the annotation of KLF4 protein and in generating camel-induced pluripotent stem cells (CiPSCs).