A motif within SET-domain proteins binds single-stranded nucleic acids and transcribed and supercoiled DNAs and can interfere with assembly of nucleosomes.

ABSTRACT: The evolutionary conserved SET domain is present in many eukaryotic chromatin-associated proteins, including some members of the trithorax (TrxG) group and the polycomb (PcG) group of epigenetic transcriptional regulators and modifiers of position effect variegation. All SET domains examined exhibited histone lysine methyltransferase activity, implicating these proteins in the generation of epigenetic marks. However, the mode of the initial recruitment of SET proteins to target genes and the way that their association with the genes is maintained after replication are not known. We found that SET-containing proteins of the SET1 and SET2 families contain motifs in the pre-SET region or at the pre-SET-SET and SET-post-SET boundaries which very tightly bind single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and RNA

SUBMITTER: Krajewski WA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC549386 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature