Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 10, 2026

Atomic Force Microscopy Investigations of DNA Lesion Recognition in Nucleotide Excision Repair
Published on: May 24, 2017
Structural basis of Nuclear Factor 1-X DNA recognition provides prototypic insight into the NFI family
Michele Tiberi1, Michela Lapi1, Louise Jane Gourlay1
1Department of Biosciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy.
Abstract:
Nuclear Factor I (NFI) proteins are involved in adenovirus DNA replication and regulate gene transcription, stem cell proliferation, and differentiation. They play key roles in development, cancer, and congenital disorders. Within the NFI family, NFI-X is critical for neural stem cell biology, hematopoiesis, muscle development, muscular dystrophies, and oncogenesis. Here, we present the structural characterization of the NFI transcription factor NFI-X, both alone and bound to its consensus palindromic DNA site. Our analyses reveal a MH1-like fold within NFI-X DNA-binding domain (DBD) and identify crucial structural determinants for activity, such as a Zn²⁺ binding site, dimeric assembly, and DNA-binding specificity. Given the ~85% sequence identity within the NFI DBDs, our structural data are prototypic for the entire family, a NFI Rosetta Stone that allows decoding a wealth of biochemical and functional data and provides a precise target for drug design in a wider disease context.
More Related Videos
06:50Author Spotlight: A Computational Approach to Decipher Amino Acid Preferences in Multispecific Protein-Protein Interactions
Published on: January 26, 2024
06:38High Sensitivity Measurement of Transcription Factor-DNA Binding Affinities by Competitive Titration Using Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: February 7, 2019
Related Concept Videos
NF-κB-dependent Signaling Pathway
NF-κB-dependent Signaling Mechanism
The...
Transducer Mechanism: Nuclear Receptors
About 48 different soluble family members of nuclear receptors are identified that can be divided into two main classes:
General Transcription Factors
Regulation of Nuclear Protein Sorting
Nucleoid
Nuclear Localization Signals and Import