scholarly journals Unusual Characteristics of the DNA Binding Domain of Epigenetic Regulatory Protein MeCP2 Determine Its Binding Specificity

Biochemistry ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (21) ◽  
pp. 3379-3391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergei Khrapunov ◽  
Christopher Warren ◽  
Huiyong Cheng ◽  
Esther R. Berko ◽  
John M. Greally ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Regulatory Protein ◽  
Binding Specificity ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Protein Mecp2

scholarly journals The C6 zinc finger and adjacent amino acids determine DNA-binding specificity and affinity in the yeast activator proteins LAC9 and PPR1.

1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 5128-5137 ◽  
Author(s):  
M M Witte ◽  
R C Dickson
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Binding Specificity ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Transcription Activator ◽  
Activator Proteins ◽  
Dna Binding Specificity

LAC9 is a DNA-binding protein that regulates transcription of the lactose-galactose regulon in Kluyveromyces lactis. The DNA-binding domain is composed of a zinc finger and nearby amino acids (M. M. Witte and R. C. Dickson, Mol. Cell. Biol. 8:3726-3733, 1988). The single zinc finger appears to be structurally related to the zinc finger of many other fungal transcription activator proteins that contain positively charged residues and six conserved cysteines with the general form Cys-Xaa2-Cys-Xaa6-Cys-Xaa6-9-Cys-Xaa2-Cys-Xaa 6-Cys, where Xaan indicates a stretch of the indicated number of any amino acids (R. M. Evans and S. M. Hollenberg, Cell 52:1-3, 1988). The function(s) of the zinc finger and other amino acids in DNA-binding remains unclear. To determine which portion of the LAC9 DNA-binding domain mediates sequence recognition, we replaced the C6 zinc finger, amino acids adjacent to the carboxyl side of the zinc finger, or both with the analogous region from the Saccharomyces cerevisiae PPR1 or LEU3 protein. A chimeric LAC9 protein, LAC9(PPR1 34-61), carrying only the PPR1 zinc finger, retained the DNA-binding specificity of LAC9. However, LAC9(PPR1 34-75), carrying the PPR1 zinc finger and 14 amino acids on the carboxyl side of the zinc finger, gained the DNA-binding specificity of PPR1, indicating that these 14 amino acids are necessary for specific DNA binding. Our data show that C6 fingers can substitute for each other and allow DNA binding, but binding affinity is reduced. Thus, in a qualitative sense C6 fingers perform a similar function(s). However, the high-affinity binding required by natural C6 finger proteins demands a unique C6 finger with a specific amino acid sequence. This requirement may reflect conformational constraints, including interactions between the C6 finger and the carboxyl-adjacent amino acids; alternatively or in addition, it may indicate that unique, nonconserved amino acid residues in zinc fingers make sequence-specifying or stabilizing contacts with DNA.

scholarly journals Mutational analysis of the DNA-binding domain of the CYS3 regulatory protein of Neurospora crassa.

1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 4356-4362 ◽  
Author(s):  
M N Kanaan ◽  
G A Marzluf
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Neurospora Crassa ◽  
Mutational Analysis ◽  
Regulatory Gene ◽  
Regulatory Protein ◽  
Binding Activity ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Dna Binding Activity

cys-3, the major sulfur regulatory gene of Neurospora crassa, activates the expression of a set of unlinked structural genes which encode sulfur catabolic-related enzymes during conditions of sulfur limitation. The cys-3 gene encodes a regulatory protein of 236 amino acid residues with a leucine zipper and an upstream basic region (the b-zip region) which together may constitute a DNA-binding domain. The b-zip region was expressed in Escherichia coli to examine its DNA-binding activity. The b-zip domain protein binds to the promoter region of the cys-3 gene itself and of cys-14, the sulfate permease II structural gene. A series of CYS3 mutant proteins obtained by site-directed mutagenesis were expressed and tested for function, dimer formation, and DNA-binding activity. The results demonstrate that the b-zip region of cys-3 is critical for both its function in vivo and specific DNA-binding in vitro.

scholarly journals DNA Bending by AraC: a Negative Mutant

1998 ◽  
Vol 180 (16) ◽  
pp. 4227-4232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatrice Saviola ◽  
Robert R. Seabold ◽  
Robert F. Schleif
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Leucine Zipper ◽  
Dna Bending ◽  
Regulatory Protein ◽  
Transcription Activation ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Dominant Negative ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Wild Type

ABSTRACT We sought a mutation in the DNA binding domain of the arabinose operon regulatory protein, AraC, of Escherichia coli that allows the protein to bind DNA normally but not activate transcription. The mutation was isolated by mutagenizing a plasmid overproducing a chimeric leucine zipper-AraC DNA binding domain and screening for proteins that were trans dominant negative with regard to wild-type AraC protein. The mutant with the lowest transcription activation of the araBAD promoter was studied further. It proved to alter a residue that had previously been demonstrated to contact DNA. Because the overproduced mutant protein still bound DNA in vivo, it is deficient in transcription activation for some reason other than absence of DNA binding. Using the phase-sensitive DNA bending assay, we found that wild-type AraC bends DNA about 90° whereas the mutant bends DNA by a smaller amount.

Cysteine residues in the zinc finger and amino acids adjacent to the finger are necessary for DNA binding by the LAC9 regulatory protein of Kluyveromyces lactis

1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 3726-3733
Author(s):  
M M Witte ◽  
R C Dickson
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Kluyveromyces Lactis ◽  
Regulatory Protein ◽  
Binding Activity ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Dna Binding Activity ◽  
Carboxyl Terminal

LAC9 is a positive regulatory protein that controls transcription of the lactose-galactose regulon in Kluyveromyces lactis. LAC9 is homologous to the GAL4 protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Both proteins have a single "zinc finger" which plays a role in DNA binding. We previously hypothesized (L. V. Wray, M. M. Witte, R. C. Dickson, and M. I. Riley, Mol. Cell. Biol. 7:1111-1121, 1987) that the DNA-binding domain of the LAC9 protein consisted of the zinc finger as well as a region of amino acids on the carboxyl-terminal side of the zinc finger. In this study we used oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis to introduce 13 single-amino-acid changes into the proposed DNA-binding domain of the LAC9 protein. Variant LAC9 proteins carrying an amino acid substitution in any one of the four highly conserved Cys residues of the zinc finger had reduced DNA-binding activity, suggesting that each Cys is necessary for DNA binding. Three of four variant LAC9 proteins with amino acid substitutions located on the carboxyl-terminal side of the zinc finger had reduced DNA-binding activity. These results support our hypothesis that the DNA-binding domain of the LAC9 protein is composed of the zinc finger and the adjacent region on the carboxyl side of the zinc finger, a region that has the potential to form an alpha-helix. Finally, LAC9 proteins containing His residues substituted for the conserved Cys residues also had reduced DNA-binding activity, indicating that His residues are not equivalent to Cys residues, as had been previously thought.

scholarly journals Involvement of the Multidomain Regulatory Protein XynR in Positive Control of Xylanase Gene Expression in the Ruminal Anaerobe Prevotella bryantii B14

2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (7) ◽  
pp. 2219-2226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kohji Miyazaki ◽  
Hiroyuki Miyamoto ◽  
Derry K. Mercer ◽  
Tatsuaki Hirase ◽  
Jennifer C. Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Transmembrane Domain ◽  
Regulatory Protein ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Xylanase Gene ◽  
Prevotella Bryantii ◽  
Genes Encoding

ABSTRACT The xylanase gene cluster from the rumen anaerobe Prevotella bryantii B14 was found to include a gene (xynR) that encodes a multidomain regulatory protein and is downstream from the xylanase and β-xylosidase genes xynA and xynB. Additional genes identified upstream of xynA and xynB include xynD, which encodes an integral membrane protein that has homology with Na:solute symporters; xynE, which is related to the genes encoding acylhydrolases and arylesterases; and xynF, which has homology with the genes encoding α-glucuronidases. XynR includes, in a single 833-amino-acid polypeptide, a putative input domain unrelated to other database sequences, a likely transmembrane domain, histidine kinase motifs, response regulator sequences, and a C-terminal AraC-type helix-turn-helix DNA binding domain. Two transcripts (3.7 and 5.8 kb) were detected with a xynA probe, and the start site of the 3.7-kb transcript encoding xynABD was mapped to a position upstream of xynD. The DNA binding domain of XynR was purified after amplification and overexpression in Escherichia coli and was found to bind to a 141-bp DNA fragment from the region immediately upstream of xynD. In vitro transcription assays demonstrated that XynR stimulates transcription of the 3.7-kb transcript. We concluded that XynR acts as a positive regulator that activates expression of xynABD in P. bryantii B14. This is the first regulatory protein that demonstrates significant homology with the two-component regulatory protein superfamily and has been shown to be involved in the regulation of polysaccharidase gene expression.

scholarly journals Solution structure and binding specificity of the p63 DNA binding domain

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Enthart ◽  
Christian Klein ◽  
Alexander Dehner ◽  
Murray Coles ◽  
Gerd Gemmecker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Solution Structure ◽  
Binding Specificity ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Dna Binding Domain
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document