Zinc Fingers Involved in MHC Class I Gene Regulation: Use of Synthetic Peptides for Structural Analysis

Summary

Two zinc finger proteins capable of binding specific DNA sequence motifs in the regulatory region of the MHC Class I genes have been described. The protein binding to the DNA sequence TGGGGATTCCCCAT contains two zinc finger motifs of the TFIIIA like sequence. Peptides comprising the double and the two individual finger regions have been prepared by solid phase peptide synthesis. Spectral studies have shown that the peptides have metal binding capabilities and that binding of the metal results in specific conformational changes. Binding studies showed that stable DNA-peptide complexes are formed with the double fingers. NMR results clearly demonstrate that single fingers are capable of forming well-defined three-dimensional structures.