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Updated: May 24, 2026

Sample Preparation for Mass Spectrometry-based Identification of RNA-binding Regions
Published on: September 28, 2017
Structure of N-terminal domain of ZAP indicates how a zinc-finger protein recognizes complex RNA
Shoudeng Chen1, Yihui Xu, Kuo Zhang
1State Key Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Zinc-finger antiviral protein (ZAP) is a host factor that specifically inhibits the replication of certain viruses, such as HIV-1, by targeting viral mRNA for degradation. How ZAP recognizes its target RNA has been unclear. Here we report the crystal structure of the N-terminal domain of rat ZAP (NZAP225), the major functional domain. The overall structure of NZAP225 resembles a tractor, with four zinc-finger motifs located at the bottom. Structural and functional analyses identified multiple positively charged residues and two putative RNA-binding cavities forming a large putative RNA-binding cleft. ZAP molecules interact to form a dimer that binds to a ZAP-responsive RNA molecule containing two ZAP-binding modules. These results provide insights into how ZAP binds specifically to complex target RNA.
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