Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Function Diversity of ArsR Family Metalloregulator

The ArsR family of transcriptional regulators are widespread among microorganisms and are involved in various important cellular events, such as metal ion homeostasis, biofilm formation, primary and secondary metabolism, symbiosis, response to adverse condition, and virulence. Its N-terminus contains a winged helix-turn-helix DNA-binding domain that can repress or activate transcription by binding to downstream target promoters. With the increasing number of members in this family identified over the past few decades, the ArsR family members have been intensively explored. In this review, we summarize the function of ArsR family of transcriptional regulators and the mechanisms of metal-regulated gene expression.