真核生物中锌指蛋白的结构与功能

真核生物中的许多蛋白质分子包含锌指结构区,这类蛋白称为锌指蛋白.锌指蛋白因其包含特殊的指状结构,在对DNA、蛋白质和RNA的识别和结合中起重要作用.许多锌指蛋白的锌指结构域包含能与DNA特异结合的区域,并与某些效应结构域（如KRAB、SCAN、BTB/POZ、SNAG、SANT和PLAG等）相连,这类锌指蛋白常作为转录因子起作用,可调控靶基因的转录.一些锌指蛋白包含蛋白质识别结构域（如LIM锌指、MYND锌指、PHD锌指和RING锌指等）,它们能够特异地介导蛋白质之间的相互作用,因此被称作蛋白适配器.此外,某些锌指蛋白还可以结合RNA,起转录后调控作用.本文就锌指蛋白与DNA、RNA以及蛋白质分子间的相互作用作一综述.     

C2H2型锌指蛋白的研究进展

锌指基因家族是人体中最大的基因家族,它参与细胞分化、胚胎发育,并与许多疾病的发生相关．根据半胱氨酸(c)和组氨酸(H)的数目和位置可将锌指蛋白分为c2H2、c2Hc2、c2c2 CHCC2C2、C2C2C2C2等亚类．c2H2型锌指是最普遍的类型,它们作为重要的转录调控因子参与许多的生理过程．c2H2型锌指蛋白包含的锌指数目从1个到30多个不等．依据锌指的数量以及在蛋白中的分布情况,大多数c2H2型锌指蛋白属于下列3类之一：1)含3个c：H：锌指的蛋白(tC2H2);2)含多个锌指的c2H2型锌指结构蛋白(mac2H2);3)锌指成对间隔排列的c2H2型锌指蛋白(spC2H2)、一些c2H2型锌指蛋白能识别并结合特异性RNA或DNA片段．另一些则只能与RNA结合．通常锌指蛋白含锌指数目越多。它选择结合的能力就越强．     

逆境相关植物锌指蛋白的研究进展

锌是植物必需的营养元素,锌指蛋白因其具有指状结构特征且能结合Zn2 而得名,植物锌指蛋白包含特有的QALGGH保守结构,可能涉及调控植物特有的生物学功能。人们已经从拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)、矮牵牛(Petunia hybrida Vilm)、水稻(Oryza sativa)、大豆(Glycine max)、棉花(Gossypium hirsutum)等植物中克隆了许多编码锌指蛋白的基因,并对其结构及功能进行了研究。利用转基因技术,将一些与逆境胁迫相关的锌指蛋白基因在目标植物中过量表达后,能对植物起到增强抗逆性的作用,说明锌指蛋白在增强植物逆境抗性方面有着广阔的应用前景。     

Evolution of the X-linked Zinc Finger Gene and the Y-linked Zinc Finger Gene in Primates

We have sequenced the partial exon of the zinc finger genes (ZFX and ZFY) in 5 hominoids, 2 Old World monkeys, 1 New World monkey, and 1 prosimian. Among these primate species, the percentage similarities of the nucleotide sequence of the ZFX gene were 96-100% and 91.2-99.7% for the ZFY gene. Of 397 sites in the ZFX and ZFY gene sequences, 20 for ZFX gene and 42 for ZFY gene were found to be variable. Substitution causes 1 amino acid change in ZFX, and 5 in ZFY, among 132 amino acids. The numbers of synonymous substitutions per site (Ks) between human and the chimpanzee, gorilla and orangutan for ZFY gene were 0.026, 0.033, and 0.085, respectively. In contrast, the Ks value between human and hominoid primates for the ZFX gene was 0.008 for each comparison. Comparison of the ZFX and ZFY genes revealed that the synonymous substitution levels were higher in hominoids than in other primates. The rates of synonymous substitution per site per year were higher in the ZFY exon than in the SRY exon, and higher in the ZFY exon than in the ZFY intron, in hominoid primates.     

Tissue-Specific Distribution of DNA-Binding Nuclear Proteins

Abstract. The DNA-binding capacity of nuclear proteins of mouse cells was examined by the protein-blotting method. Under conditions in which the lac repressor specifically binds to the lac operator, the DNA-binding nuclear proteins from different tissues showed a tissue-specific distribution, suggesting that the species and amounts of nuclear proteins with DNA binding activity differ in different tissues.
When cloned eukaryotic genes were used for binding, eukaryotic DNA showed stronger binding than prokaryotic DNA. Competition experiments suggested that many nuclear proteins have different DNA binding properties from that of the prokaryotic repressor.     

DNA-Binding Proteins and Structural Characteristics of Chloroplast Nucleoids

A comparative analysis of proteins from chloroplast nucleoids was performed in two higher-plant species (Pisum sativumL. andArabidopsis thalianaL.) and a green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtiiDang. In the nucleoids of the higher plants and the alga, 26–27 proteins were detected with their mol wts ranging from 10 to more than 94 kD. In all the species tested, the distribution of nucleoid proteins by their mol wts was similar, especially between the predominant proteins with mol wts of 10 to 40 kD. Six DNA-binding proteins (12–18 kD) were detected in nucleoids fromCh. reinhardtiichloroplasts after in vivocovalent cross-linking between chloroplast DNA and proteins. Under an electron miscroscope, some regular structures resembling nucleosome-like particles of bacterial cells were revealed.     

Specificity of RNA Binding by CPEB: Requirement for RNA Recognition Motifs and a Novel Zinc Finger

CPEB is an RNA binding protein that interacts with the maturation-type cytoplasmic polyadenylation element (CPE) (consensus UUUUUAU) to promote polyadenylation and translational activation of maternal mRNAs in Xenopus laevis. CPEB, which is conserved from mammals to invertebrates, is composed of three regions: an amino-terminal portion with no obvious functional motif, two RNA recognition motifs (RRMs), and a cysteine-histidine region that is reminiscent of a zinc finger. In this study, we investigated the physical properties of CPEB required for RNA binding. CPEB can interact with RNA as a monomer, and phosphorylation, which modifies the protein during oocyte maturation, has little effect on RNA binding. Deletion mutations of CPEB have been overexpressed in Escherichia coli and used in a series of RNA gel shift experiments. Although a full-length and a truncated CPEB that lacks 139 amino-terminal amino acids bind CPE-containing RNA avidly, proteins that have had either RRM deleted bind RNA much less efficiently. CPEB that has had the cysteine-histidine region deleted has no detectable capacity to bind RNA. Single alanine substitutions of specific cysteine or histidine residues within this region also abolish RNA binding, pointing to the importance of this highly conserved domain of the protein. Chelation of metal ions by 1,10-phenanthroline inhibits the ability of CPEB to bind RNA; however, RNA binding is restored if the reaction is supplemented with zinc. CPEB also binds other metals such as cobalt and cadmium, but these destroy RNA binding. These data indicate that the RRMs and a zinc finger region of CPEB are essential for RNA binding.     

Study of DNA-Binding Proteins of Rat Liver Mitochondria

Acid-soluble proteins able to form DNA-protein complexes in the presence of physiological concentration of NaCl were isolated from rat liver mitochondria. Electrophoretic analysis of these proteins in 15% polyacrylamide gel showed that mitochondrial acid-soluble proteins include of approximately 20 polypeptides with molecular weight of 10–120 kDa. The fraction of acid-soluble proteins can be separated into basic and acidic proteins by chromatography on DEAE cellulose. Some of acidic proteins are tightly bound to the basic proteins and can be separated from them in the presence of 5 mM dithiothreitol. It is discovered that the fraction of acidic proteins contains proteases (including DNA-activated ones), which cleave different polypeptides of the basic proteins with different efficiency. Possibly, mitochondrial DNA-binding proteins and DNA-activated proteases are involved in the regulation of structural organization and functional activity of mitochondrial DNA.     

锌指蛋白与心脏发育

锌指是最大的DNA结合蛋白家族,是最普遍的核酸识别元件.近年来发现锌指参与生物体的基因转录,复制及蛋白质的合成等各种基因调节和控制过程,心脏发育过程中涉及大量锌指基因.综述了心脏发育过程中起重要调控作用的锌指蛋白以及它们的作用机制.     

Characterization of DNA-Binding Proteins Using Multiplexed Competitor EMSA

We describe a low-cost high-throughput technique to characterize nuclear protein DNA-binding interactions. This technique, known as Multiplexed Competitor Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay, uses a series of multiplexed oligonucleotide DNA consensus competitors, in combination with a standard electrophoretic mobility shift assay procedure, to efficiently characterize DNA-binding proteins. We show utility for the method to identify a previously unreported hepatocyte nuclear factor-3 site created in intron 8 of the lipoprotein lipase gene by a common single-nucleotide polymorphism (rs327).     

锌指类基因调控蛋白──生物无机化学和分子生物学发展的新领域

生命必需元素锌,除了以锌酶的形式,参与生物体的各类代谢过程外,近年来发现,锌还以各种锌蛋白的结构方式,包括锌指、锌纽、锌带和锌簇等,参与生物体的基因转录、复制及蛋白质的合成等各种基因调节和控制过程．联想到金属硫蛋白在锌的体内平衡中所扮演的角色,很有可能锌是通过金属硫蛋白和锌指类蛋白的逐级调控,成为生物体生长发育的调控中心．癌基因和人免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）的许多调节蛋白也具有锌指类结构,这给癌症和爱滋病的治疗提供了新思路．