The L1Tc C-terminal domain from Trypanosoma cruzi non-long terminal repeat retrotransposon codes for a protein that bears two C2H2 zinc finger motifs and is endowed with nucleic acid chaperone activity.

ABSTRACT: L1Tc, a non-long terminal repeat retrotransposon from Trypanosoma cruzi, is a 4.9-kb actively transcribed element which contains a single open reading frame coding for the machinery necessary for its autonomous retrotransposition. In this paper, we analyze the protein encoded by the L1Tc 3' region, termed C2-L1Tc, which contains two zinc finger motifs similar to those present in the TFIIIA transcription factor family. C2-L1Tc binds nucleic acids with different affinities, such that RNA > tRNA > single-stranded DNA > double-stranded DNA, without any evidence for sequence specificity. C2-L1Tc also exhibits nucleic acid chaperone activity on different DNA templates that may participate in the mechanism of retrotransposition of the element. C2-L1Tc promotes annealing of complementary oligonucl

SUBMITTER: Heras SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1265797 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature