Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026

Genome-wide Snapshot of Chromatin Regulators and States in Xenopus Embryos by ChIP-Seq
Published on: February 26, 2015
RNA and DNA binding zinc fingers in Xenopus TFIIIA
O Theunissen1, F Rudt, U Guddat
1Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Otto Warburg Laboratory, Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
The nine tandem zinc finger repeats in the 5S gene-specific transcription factor IIIA (TFIIIA) from Xenopus mediate specific binding to 5S DNA as well as to 5S ribosomal RNA. A comparative functional analysis of a systematic set of TFIIIA zinc finger combinations reveals that most, if not all, participate in both DNA and RNA binding. Minimal sets of fingers sufficient for DNA and RNA recognition are different. In RNA binding, most finger elements are found to be functionally equivalent. However, the nonessential finger 6 exhibits RNA binding characteristics distinct from the other eight modules. The secondary/tertiary structure of the central domain in 5S RNA, not its primary sequence, is found to carry the essential structural information for TFIIIA binding in Xenopus oocytes. Taken together, our findings suggest that RNA and DNA binding are overlapping, though separable functions of the nine zinc finger elements in TFIIIA, occurring via fundamentally different molecular mechanisms.
More Related Videos
06:38High Sensitivity Measurement of Transcription Factor-DNA Binding Affinities by Competitive Titration Using Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: February 7, 2019
09:38Identification of Nucleolar Factors During HIV-1 Replication Through Rev Immunoprecipitation and Mass Spectrometry
Published on: June 26, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Transcription Factors
Conserved Binding Sites
Binding sites are often located in large pockets, and if their location on a protein’s surface is unknown, it can be predicted using various approaches. The energetic method computationally analyses the...
Transcription Factors
Eukaryotic Transcription Activators
The binding domains are capable of recognizing and interacting with regulatory sequences on the DNA. These domains are...
Single-Strand DNA Binding Proteins
General Transcription Factors