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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Studying DNA Looping by Single-Molecule FRET
Published on: June 28, 2014
A loop matters for FTO substrate selection
Zhifu Han1, Ning Huang, Tianhui Niu
1National Institute of Biological Sciences, No. 7 Science Park Road, Beijing, 102206, China.
Abstract:
Recent studies have unequivocally established the link between FTO and obesity. FTO was biochemically shown to belong to the AlkB-like family DNA/RNA demethylase. However, FTO differs from other AlkB members in that it has unique substrate specificity and contains an extended C-terminus with unknown functions. Insight into the substrate selection mechanism and a functional clue to the C-terminus of FTO were gained from recent structural and biochemical studies. These data would be valuable to design FTO-specific inhibitors that can be potentially translated into therapeutic agents for treatment of obesity or obesity-related diseases.
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