A structural approach reveals how neighbouring C2H2 zinc fingers influence DNA binding specificity.

ABSTRACT: Development of an accurate protein-DNA recognition code that can predict DNA specificity from protein sequence is a central problem in biology. C2H2 zinc fingers constitute by far the largest family of DNA binding domains and their binding specificity has been studied intensively. However, despite decades of research, accurate prediction of DNA specificity remains elusive. A major obstacle is thought to be the inability of current methods to account for the influence of neighbouring domains. Here we show that this problem can be addressed using a structural approach: we build structural models for all C2H2-ZF-DNA complexes with known binding motifs and find six distinct binding modes. Each mode changes the orientation of specificity residues with respect to the DNA, thereby modulating base

SUBMITTER: Garton M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4627083 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature