title: Nucleic acid recognition by OB-fold proteins.
abstract: The OB-fold domain is a compact structural motif frequently used for nucleic acid recognition. Structural comparison of all OB-fold/nucleic acid complexes solved to date confirms the low degree of sequence similarity among members of this family while highlighting several structural sequence determinants common to most of these OB-folds. Loops connecting the secondary structural elements in the OB-fold core are extremely variable in length and in functional detail. However, certain features of ligand binding are conserved among OB-fold complexes, including the location of the binding surface, the polarity of the nucleic acid with respect to the OB-fold, and particular nucleic acid-protein interactions commonly used for recognition of single-stranded and unusually structured nucleic acids. Intriguingly, the observation of shared nucleic acid polarity may shed light on the longstanding question concerning OB-fold origins, indicating that it is unlikely that members of this family arose via convergent evolution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0215, USA. theobal@colorado.edu
authors.forename: Douglas L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Theobald
authors.forename: Rachel M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Mitton-Fry
authors.forename: Deborah S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Wuttke
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000378:metabolism*; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000378:metabolism*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D009844:Oligosaccharides; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011506:Proteins; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA