Collective unstructured interactions drive chromatin binding of transcription factors.

ABSTRACT: Eukaryotic transcription factors (TFs) contain both structured DNA-binding domains (DBDs) and intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs). While the structures and sequence preferences of DBDs have been extensively characterized, the role of IDR-mediated interactions in chromatin binding and nuclear organization remains poorly understood, in part because these interactions have been difficult to measure in living cells. Here, we use a recently developed single-molecule technique, proximity-assisted photoactivation (PAPA), to investigate how IDRs influence TF associations with each other and with chromatin, focusing on the factors Sp1 and Klf1. We find that the number and patterning of aromatic and basic residues within IDRs govern both TF self-association and chromatin binding. Unexpectedly, t

SUBMITTER: Abidi AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12132478 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature