Y. Choo et A. Klug, A ROLE IN DNA-BINDING FOR THE LINKER SEQUENCES OF THE 1ST 3 ZINC FINGERS OF TFIIIA, Nucleic acids research, 21(15), 1993, pp. 3341-3346
Zinc fingers of the TFIIIA type are connected by short linker sequence
s between the structural units. Structural investigations by 2D NMR in
solution and by X-ray crystallographic analyses of complexes with DNA
point to a passive role for the linkers. We have therefore investigat
ed the influence of the linker sequence on DNA binding using as a mode
l the first three fingers of the protein TFIIIA. Insertion of certain
heterologous linkers abolishes binding, and replacement of individual
amino acids can reduce binding by tactors of up to twenty-tour.