Download MendeleyCrystal Structure of a Zinc-Finger-RNA Complex Reveals Two Modes of Molecular Recognition
Lu, D., Searles, M.A., Klug, A.(2003) Nature 426: 96
- PubMed: 14603324
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02088
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
1UN6 - PubMed Abstract:
Zinc-finger proteins of the classical Cys2His2 type are the most frequently used class of transcription factor and account for about 3% of genes in the human genome. The zinc-finger motif was discovered during biochemical studies on the transcription factor TFIIIA, which regulates the 5S ribosomal RNA genes of Xenopus laevis. Zinc-fingers mostly interact with DNA, but TFIIIA binds not only specifically to the promoter DNA, but also to 5S RNA itself. Increasing evidence indicates that zinc-fingers are more widely used to recognize RNA. There have been numerous structural studies on DNA binding, but none on RNA binding by zinc-finger proteins. Here we report the crystal structure of a three-finger complex with 61 bases of RNA, derived from the central regions of the complete nine-finger TFIIIA-5S RNA complex. The structure reveals two modes of zinc-finger binding, both of which differ from that in common use for DNA: first, the zinc-fingers interact with the backbone of a double helix; and second, the zinc-fingers specifically recognize individual bases positioned for access in otherwise intricately folded 'loop' regions of the RNA.
Organizational Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 2QH, UK.
