Abstract
Most genes in higher organisms are activated by the binding of proteins called transcription factors. One such protein, transcription factor IIIA (TFIIIA) from the frog, activates the gene for 5S RNA by binding to the region of the gene between nucleotides 45 and 97. This binding site has been defined by a variety of biochemical studies, including base-deletion experiments and DNase I footprinting1. The protein also binds to the gene product: in immature frogs it is stored as a complex with 58 RNA. From the observation that TFIIIA can bind to either double-helical DNA or RNA, and from their own measurements, Rhodes and Klug2 have proposed that the DNA-binding site for TFIIIA has an RNA-like structure. Here we present the crystal structure analysis of a part of the DNA-binding site (nucleotides 81–89 of the gene) which forms a particularly strong interaction with the protein, and show that it has a conformation similar to the A′ form of double-helical RNA.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brown, D. D. Harvey Lect. 76, 27–44 (1982).
Rhodes, D. & Klug, A. Cell 46, 123–132 (1986).
Miller, J., McLachlan, A. D. & Klug, A. EMBO J. 4, 1609–1614 (1985).
Rosenberg, U. B. et al. Nature 319, 336–339 (1986).
Vincent, A., Colot, H. V. & Rosbach, M. J. molec. Biol. 186, 149–166 (1985).
Hartshorne, T. A., Blumberg, H. & Young, E. T. Nature 320, 283–287 (1986).
Rhodes, D. EMBO J. 4, 3473–3482 (1985).
Sakonju, S. & Brown, D. D. Cell 31, 395–405 (1982).
Fairall, L., Rhodes, D. & Klug, A. Cell (submitted).
Sakonju, S., Bogenhagen, D. F. & Brown, D. D. Cell 19, 13–25 (1980).
Bodenhagen, D. F., Sakonju, S. & Brown, D. D. Cell 19, 27–35 (1980).
Gait, M. J., Matthes, H. W. D., Singh, M., Sproat, B. S. & Titmus, R. C. Nucleic Acids Res. 10, 6243–6254 (1982).
Conner, B. N., Yoon, C., Dickerson, J. L. & Dickerson, R. E. J. molec. Biol. 174, 663–695 (1984).
Wang, A. H.-J., Fujii, S., van Boom, J. H. & Rich, A. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 3968–3972 (1982).
McCall, M. J., Brown, T. & Kennard, O. J. molec. Biol. 183, 385–396 (1985).
Sussman, J. L., Holbrook, S. R., Church, G. M. & Kirn, S. H. Acta crystallogr. A33, 800–804 (1977).
Hendrickson, W. A. & Konnert, J. H. in Biomolecular Structure, Conformation, Function and Evolution Vol. 1 (ed. Srinivasan, R.) 43–57 (Pergamon, Oxford, 1981).
Wilson, A. J. C. Nature 150, 152 (1942).
Arnott, S. & Hukins, D. W. L. Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun. 47, 1504–1509 (1972).
Calladine, C. R. & Drew, H. R. J. molec. Biol. 178, 773–782 (1984).
Arnott, S., Hukins, D. W. L. & Dover, S. D. Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun. 48, 1392–1399 (1972).
Arnott, S., Hukins, D. W. L., Dover, S. D., Fuller, W. & Hodgson, A. R. J. molec. Biol. 81, 107–122 (1973).
Nilsson, L., Clore, G. M., Gronenborn, A. M., Brünger, A. T. & Karplus, M. J. molec. Biol. 188, 455–475 (1986).
Drew, H. R. & Travers, A. A. Cell 37, 491–502 (1984).
Haran, T. thesis, Weizmann Inst. (1986).
Shakked, Z. et al. J. molec. Biol. 166, 183–201 (1983).
Kadonaga, J. T., Jones, K. A. & Tjian, R. Trends biochem. Sci. 11, 20–23 (1986).
Rabinovich, D. & Shakked, Z. Acta crystallogr. A40, 195–200 (1984).
Watson, J. D. & Crick, F. H. C. Nature 171, 737–738 (1953).
Franklin, R. E. & Gosling, R. G. Acta crystallogr. 6, 673–677 (1953).
Langridge, R. et al. J. molec. Biol. 2, 38–64 (1960).
Fuller, W., Wilkins, M. H. F., Wilson, H. R. & Hamilton, L. D. J. molec. Biol. 12, 60–80 (1965).
Arnott, S. Nature 320, 313 (1986).
Huber, P. W. & Wool, I. G. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 83, 1593–1597 (1986).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McCall, M., Brown, T., Hunter, W. et al. The crystal structure of d(GGATGGGAG) forms an essential part of the binding site for transcription factor IIIA. Nature 322, 661–664 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/322661a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/322661a0
This article is cited by
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.