Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2026

HOX Loci Focused CRISPR/sgRNA Library Screening Identifying Critical CTCF Boundaries
Published on: March 31, 2019
Solution structure of a CCHHC domain of neural zinc finger factor-1 and its implications for DNA binding
Holly J Berkovits-Cymet1, Barbara T Amann, Jeremy M Berg
1Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
Abstract:
The structure of a CCHHC zinc-binding domain from neural zinc finger factor-1 (NZF-1) has been determined in solution though the use of NMR methods. This domain is a member of a family of domains that have the Cys-X(4)-Cys-X(4)-His-X(7)-His-X(5)-Cys consensus sequence. The structure determination reveals a novel fold based around a zinc(II) ion coordinated to three Cys residues and the second of the two conserved His residues. The other His residue is stacked between the metal-coordinated His residue and a relatively conserved aromatic residue. Analysis of His to Gln sequence variants reveals that both His residues are required for the formation of a well-defined structure, but neither is required for high-affinity metal binding at a tetrahedral site. The structure suggests that a two-domain protein fragment and a double-stranded DNA binding site may interact with a common two-fold axis relating the two domains and the two half-sites of the DNA-inverted repeat.
Related Concept Videos
Structure of Cadherins
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...
Chromatin Immunoprecipitation- ChIP
Types of ChIP
ChIP can be divided into two types - X-ChIP and N-ChIP. X-ChIP involves in vivo cross-linking of histones and regulatory proteins to DNA, fragmenting the DNA by sonication, and isolating the protein-DNA...
Conservation of Protein Domains Over Different Proteins
A limited set of protein domains often duplicate and recombine during evolution. These domains can be organized in different combinations to form...
Cis-regulatory Sequences
Heterochromatin
Constitutive heterochromatin: It is a highly compact region of chromatin that is mostly concentrated in the centromere and telomere. Unlike euchromatin, the amino acid at 9th...

