title: Alkylation interference identifies essential DNA contacts for sequence-specific binding of the eukaryotic transcription factor C/EBP.
abstract: Transcriptional regulators containing a "leucine zipper" and a flanking basic domain belong to a recently identified class of DNA-binding proteins. We have mapped the essential DNA contacts of one member of this group, the eukaryotic transcription factor C/EBP. Methylation and ethylation interference experiments detected major groove contacts over a full turn of the DNA helix on both an asymmetric and a symmetric C/EBP binding site. The contacts essential for C/EBP binding have two-fold symmetry yet differ significantly from the contacts of other dimeric DNA-binding proteins, including those bearing helix-turn-helix motifs and the type I restriction endonuclease EcoRI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular, Viral and Molecular Biology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City 84132.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Nye
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Graves
mesh_terms: D000478:Alkylation; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D022762:CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Proteins; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005038:Ethylnitrosourea / Q000494:pharmacology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D009053:Sarcoma Viruses, Murine / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D022762:CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Proteins; D004279:DNA, Viral; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D005038:Ethylnitrosourea