We reported previously that three ERF transcription factors, tobacco ERF3 (NtERF3) and Arabidopsis AtERF3 and AtERF4, which are categorized as class II ERFs, are active repressors of transcription. To clarify the roles of these repressors in transcriptional regulation in plants, we attempted to identify the functional domains of the ERF repressor that mediates the repression of transcription. A...

Several zinc finger proteins have been discovered recently that bind specifically to double-stranded RNA. These include the mammalian JAZ and wig proteins, and the seven-zinc finger protein ZFa from Xenopus laevis. We have determined the solution structure of a 127 residue fragment of ZFa, which consists of two zinc finger domains connected by a linker that remains unstructured in the free prot...

We report the development of chimeric DNA binding peptides comprising a DNA binding fragment of natural transcription factors (the basic region of a bZIP protein or a monomeric zinc finger module) and an AT-Hook peptide motif. The resulting peptide conjugates display high DNA affinity and excellent sequence selectivity. Furthermore, the AT-Hook motif also favors the cell internalization of the ...

The reovirus lambda 1 protein, a major component of the inner capsid, has been shown to exhibit an affinity for dsRNA in a 'Northwestern' filter-binding assay. In the present study it was demonstrated that the protein can bind dsDNA as well as dsRNA. A bacterial expression system was used to study the protein region able to bind to nucleic acids. The amino-terminal 187 amino acids of lambda 1 w...

Zinc finger proteins are among the most abundant proteins in eukaryotic genomes. Their functions are extraordinarily diverse and include DNA recognition, RNA packaging, transcriptional activation, regulation of apoptosis, protein folding and assembly, and lipid binding. Zinc finger structures are as diverse as their functions. Structures have recently been reported for many new zinc finger doma...

We report the development of chimeric DNA binding peptides comprising a DNA binding fragment of natural transcription factors (the basic region of a bZIP protein or a monomeric zinc finger module) and an AT-Hook peptide motif. The resulting peptide conjugates display high DNA affinity and excellent sequence selectivity. Furthermore, the AT-Hook motif also favors the cell internalization of the ...

The influenza virus matrix protein (M1) possesses a cysteine and histidine (CCHH) motif in the helix 9 (H9) and adjacent region ((148)CATCEQIADSQHRSH(162)). The CCHH motif has been proposed as a putative zinc finger motif and zinc-binding activity has been implicated in virus uncoating as well as transcription inhibition and mRNA regulation. The function of the CCHH motif in the influenza virus...

Model checking is a technique for finding bugs in systems by systematically exploring their state spaces. We wish to extract sound models from concurrent programs automatically and check the behaviors of these models systematically. The zing project is an effort to build a flexible infrastructure to represent and model check abstractions of large concurrent software. To support automatic extrac...

BACKGROUND Genetic studies of the Arabidopsis mutant lsd1 highlight the important role of LSD1 in the negative regulation of plant programmed cell death (PCD). Arabidopsis thaliana LSD1 (AtLSD1) contains three LSD1-type zinc finger motifs, which are involved in the protein-protein interaction. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS To further understand the function of LSD1, we have analyzed cellular...