title: [C2H2 zinc-finger recognition of biomolecules].
abstract: C2H2 zinc-finger motif presents in 3% of proteins that are encoded in the human genome, and has the abilities to recognize DNA, RNA and protein. With nearly 3 decades of efforts, the mechanisms of zinc-finger mediated biomolecule recognitions have been studied to various extents. Zinc-finger binds into the major groove of DNA double helix, establishes an one-to-one recognition format between DNA bases and certain amino acids in a zinc-finger, and achieves specificity based on DNA sequences. While RNA molecules show a large variety in their structures, zinc-finger recognizes RNA through the collected information of specially displayed bases and special backbone folding. Initial studies have been performed on zinc-finger mediated protein-protein interactions. Existing data indicate multiple recognition modes. The studies on molecular mechanism have supported the development of engineered zinc-fingers, which have been introduced into applications. For its wide existence, large functional diversity and potential in translational applications, zinc-finger deserves a systematic study in every aspect.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substrance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100050, China. luduo@imm.ac.cn
authors.forename: Duo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D051740:Ikaros Transcription Factor / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D011485:Protein Binding; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D012341:RNA, Ribosomal, 5S / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D035582:Transcription Factor TFIIIA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D016335:Zinc Fingers
chemical_list: D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D012341:RNA, Ribosomal, 5S; D035582:Transcription Factor TFIIIA; D014157:Transcription Factors; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins; C498432:ZFPM1 protein, human; C093846:early endosome antigen 1; D051740:Ikaros Transcription Factor; D004247:DNA