BACKGROUND: Zinc fingers of the Cys2-His2 class comprise one of the largest families of eukaryotic DNA-binding motifs and recognize a diverse set of DNA sequences. These proteins have a relatively simple modular structure and key base contacts are typically made by a few residues from each finger. These features make the zinc finger motif an attractive system for designing novel DNA-binding proteins and for exploring fundamental principles of protein-DNA recognition. RESULTS: Here we report the X-ray crystal structures of zinc finger-DNA complexes involving three variants of Zif268, with multiple changes in the recognition helix of finger one. We describe the structure of each of these three-finger peptides bound to its corresponding target site. To help elucidate the differential basis for site-specific recognition, the structures of four other complexes containing various combinations of these peptides with alternative binding sites have also been determined. CONCLUSIONS: The protein-DNA contacts observed in these complexes reveal the basis for the specificity demonstrated by these Zif268 variants. Many, but not all, of the contacts can be rationalized in terms of a recognition code, but the predictive value of such a code is limited. The structures illustrate how modest changes in the docking arrangement accommodate the new sidechain-base and sidechain-phosphate interactions. Such adaptations help explain the versatility of naturally occurring zinc finger proteins and their utility in design.
The line below this paragraph, {{ABSTRACT_PUBMED_9562555}}, adds the Publication Abstract to the page
(as it appears on PubMed at http://www.pubmed.gov), where 9562555 is the PubMed ID number.
-->
{{ABSTRACT_PUBMED_9562555}}
==About this Structure==
==About this Structure==
Line 27:
Line 31:
[[Category: Dna-binding protein]]
[[Category: Dna-binding protein]]
[[Category: Zinc finger]]
[[Category: Zinc finger]]
''Page seeded by [http://oca.weizmann.ac.il/oca OCA ] on Fri May 2 09:39:53 2008''
''Page seeded by [http://oca.weizmann.ac.il/oca OCA ] on Mon Jun 30 15:47:01 2008''
Revision as of 12:47, 30 June 2008
This article has been automatically seeded. Changes to this page should pertain to the PDB entry only and not to the protein or biomolecule in general.
