Design of novel zinc finger proteins: towards artificial control of specific gene expression

In this review, we summarize design strategies for generating proteins with desired sequences such as long contiguous base pairs and diverse sequence specificities based on the nature of Cys(2)-His(2) zinc finger proteins. Re cent progress towards artificial DNA binding proteins has been achieved by structure-based design processes and by selection strategies. Indeed, a mul ti-zinc finger protein with an 18 (or 27)-base pair address, and new zinc f inger proteins for diverse DNA target sites (TATA-box and p53 binding site) have been created successfully. Such novel zinc finger proteins will proba bly be useful tools in molecular biology and potentially in human medicine. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.