title: Zinc finger-DNA recognition: crystal structure of a Zif268-DNA complex at 2.1 A.
abstract: The zinc finger DNA-binding motif occurs in many proteins that regulate eukaryotic gene expression. The crystal structure of a complex containing the three zinc fingers from Zif268 (a mouse immediate early protein) and a consensus DNA-binding site has been determined at 2.1 angstroms resolution and refined to a crystallographic R factor of 18.2 percent. In this complex, the zinc fingers bind in the major groove of B-DNA and wrap part way around the double helix. Each finger has a similar relation to the DNA and makes its primary contacts in a three-base pair subsite. Residues from the amino-terminal portion of an alpha helix contact the bases, and most of the contracts are made with the guanine-rich strand of the DNA. This structure provides a framework for understanding how zinc fingers recognize DNA and suggests that this motif may provide a useful basis for the design of novel DNA-binding proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Pavletich
authors.forename: C O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Pabo
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003461:Crystallography; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; D051379:Mice; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015394:Molecular Structure; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1; C486109:Egr1 protein, mouse; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D004247:DNA