Multiprotein-DNA complexes in transcriptional regulation

Transcription in eukaryotes is frequently regulated by a mechanism termed c ombinatorial control, whereby several different proteins must bind DNA in c oncert to achieve appropriate regulation of the downstream gene. X-ray crys tallographic studies of multiprotein complexes bound to DNA have been carri ed out to investigate the molecular determinants of complex assembly and DN A binding. This work has provided important insights into the specific prot ein-protein and protein-DNA interactions that govern the assembly of multip rotein regulatory complexes. The results of these studies are reviewed here , and the general insights into the mechanism of combinatorial gene regulat ion are discussed.