Helix-turn-helix

Structural motif capable of binding DNA
The λ repressor of bacteriophage lambda employs two helix-turn-helix motifs (left; green) to bind DNA (right; blue and red). The λ repressor protein in this image is a dimer.

Helix-turn-helix is a DNA-binding protein (DBP). The helix-turn-helix (HTH) is a major structural motif capable of binding DNA. Each monomer incorporates two α helices, joined by a short strand of amino acids, that bind to the major groove of DNA. The HTH motif occurs in many proteins that regulate gene expression. It should not be confused with the helix–loop–helix motif.[1]

Discovery

The discovery of the helix-turn-helix motif was based on similarities between several genes encoding transcription regulatory proteins from bacteriophage lambda and Escherichia coli: Cro, CAP, and λ repressor, which were found to share a common 20–25 amino acid sequence that facilitates DNA recognition.[2][3][4][5]

Function

The helix-turn-helix motif is a DNA-binding motif. The recognition and binding to DNA by helix-turn-helix proteins is done by the two α helices, one occupying the N-terminal end of the motif, the other at the C-terminus. In most cases, such as in the Cro repressor, the second helix contributes most to DNA recognition, and hence it is often called the "recognition helix". It binds to the major groove of DNA through a series of hydrogen bonds and various Van der Waals interactions with exposed bases. The other α helix stabilizes the interaction between protein and DNA, but does not play a particularly strong role in its recognition.[2] The recognition helix and its preceding helix always have the same relative orientation.[6]

Classification of helix-turn-helix motifs

Several attempts have been made to classify the helix-turn-helix motifs based on their structure and the spatial arrangement of their helices.[6][7][8] Some of the main types are described below.

Di-helical

The di-helical helix-turn-helix motif is the simplest helix-turn-helix motif. A fragment of Engrailed homeodomain encompassing only the two helices and the turn was found to be an ultrafast independently folding protein domain.[9]

Tri-helical

An example of this motif is found in the transcriptional activator Myb.[10]

Tetra-helical

The tetra-helical helix-turn-helix motif has an additional C-terminal helix compared to the tri-helical motifs. These include the LuxR-type DNA-binding HTH domain found in bacterial transcription factors and the helix-turn-helix motif found in the TetR repressors.[11] Multihelical versions with additional helices also occur.[12]

Winged helix-turn-helix

The winged helix-turn-helix (wHTH) motif is formed by a 3-helical bundle and a 3- or 4-strand beta-sheet (wing). The topology of helices and strands in the wHTH motifs may vary. In the transcription factor ETS wHTH folds into a helix-turn-helix motif on a four-stranded anti-parallel beta-sheet scaffold arranged in the order α1-β1-β2-α2-α3-β3-β4 where the third helix is the DNA recognition helix.[13][14]

Other modified helix-turn-helix motifs

Other derivatives of the helix-turn-helix motif include the DNA-binding domain found in MarR, a regulator of multiple antibiotic resistance, which forms a winged helix-turn-helix with an additional C-terminal alpha helix.[8][15]

See also

References

  1. ^ Brennan RG, Matthews BW (February 1989). "The helix-turn-helix DNA binding motif". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 264 (4): 1903–6. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(18)94115-3. PMID 2644244.
  2. ^ a b Matthews BW, Ohlendorf DH, Anderson WF, Takeda Y (March 1982). "Structure of the DNA-binding region of lac repressor inferred from its homology with cro repressor". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 79 (5): 1428–32. Bibcode:1982PNAS...79.1428M. doi:10.1073/pnas.79.5.1428. PMC 345986. PMID 6951187.
  3. ^ Anderson WF, Ohlendorf DH, Takeda Y, Matthews BW (April 1981). "Structure of the cro repressor from bacteriophage lambda and its interaction with DNA". Nature. 290 (5809): 754–8. Bibcode:1981Natur.290..754A. doi:10.1038/290754a0. PMID 6452580. S2CID 4360799.
  4. ^ McKay DB, Steitz TA (April 1981). "Structure of catabolite gene activator protein at 2.9 A resolution suggests binding to left-handed B-DNA". Nature. 290 (5809): 744–9. doi:10.1038/290744a0. PMID 6261152. S2CID 568056.
  5. ^ Pabo CO, Lewis M (July 1982). "The operator-binding domain of lambda repressor: structure and DNA recognition". Nature. 298 (5873): 443–7. Bibcode:1982Natur.298..443P. doi:10.1038/298443a0. PMID 7088190. S2CID 39169630.
  6. ^ a b Wintjens R, Rooman M (September 1996). "Structural classification of HTH DNA-binding domains and protein-DNA interaction modes". Journal of Molecular Biology. 262 (2): 294–313. doi:10.1006/jmbi.1996.0514. PMID 8831795.
  7. ^ Suzuki M, Brenner SE (September 1995). "Classification of multi-helical DNA-binding domains and application to predict the DBD structures of sigma factor, LysR, OmpR/PhoB, CENP-B, Rapl, and Xy1S/Ada/AraC". FEBS Letters. 372 (2–3): 215–21. doi:10.1016/0014-5793(95)00988-L. PMID 7556672. S2CID 3037519.
  8. ^ a b Aravind L, Anantharaman V, Balaji S, Babu MM, Iyer LM (April 2005). "The many faces of the helix-turn-helix domain: transcription regulation and beyond". FEMS Microbiology Reviews. 29 (2): 231–62. doi:10.1016/j.femsre.2004.12.008. PMID 15808743.
  9. ^ Religa TL, Johnson CM, Vu DM, Brewer SH, Dyer RB, Fersht AR (May 2007). "The helix-turn-helix motif as an ultrafast independently folding domain: the pathway of folding of Engrailed homeodomain". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 104 (22): 9272–7. Bibcode:2007PNAS..104.9272R. doi:10.1073/pnas.0703434104. PMC 1890484. PMID 17517666.
  10. ^ Ogata K, Hojo H, Aimoto S, Nakai T, Nakamura H, Sarai A, Ishii S, Nishimura Y (July 1992). "Solution structure of a DNA-binding unit of Myb: a helix-turn-helix-related motif with conserved tryptophans forming a hydrophobic core". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 89 (14): 6428–32. Bibcode:1992PNAS...89.6428O. doi:10.1073/pnas.89.14.6428. PMC 49514. PMID 1631139.
  11. ^ Hinrichs W, Kisker C, Düvel M, Müller A, Tovar K, Hillen W, Saenger W (April 1994). "Structure of the Tet repressor-tetracycline complex and regulation of antibiotic resistance". Science. 264 (5157): 418–20. Bibcode:1994Sci...264..418H. doi:10.1126/science.8153629. PMID 8153629.
  12. ^ Iwahara J, Clubb RT (November 1999). "Solution structure of the DNA binding domain from Dead ringer, a sequence-specific AT-rich interaction domain (ARID)". The EMBO Journal. 18 (21): 6084–94. doi:10.1093/emboj/18.21.6084. PMC 1171673. PMID 10545119.
  13. ^ Donaldson LW, Petersen JM, Graves BJ, McIntosh LP (January 1996). "Solution structure of the ETS domain from murine Ets-1: a winged helix-turn-helix DNA binding motif". The EMBO Journal. 15 (1): 125–34. doi:10.2210/pdb1etc/pdb. PMC 449924. PMID 8598195.
  14. ^ Sharrocks AD, Brown AL, Ling Y, Yates PR (December 1997). "The ETS-domain transcription factor family". The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology. 29 (12): 1371–87. doi:10.1016/S1357-2725(97)00086-1. PMID 9570133.
  15. ^ Alekshun MN, Levy SB, Mealy TR, Seaton BA, Head JF (August 2001). "The crystal structure of MarR, a regulator of multiple antibiotic resistance, at 2.3 A resolution". Nature Structural Biology. 8 (8): 710–4. doi:10.1038/90429. PMID 11473263. S2CID 19608515.

Further reading

  • Struhl K (April 1989). "Helix-turn-helix, zinc-finger, and leucine-zipper motifs for eukaryotic transcriptional regulatory proteins". Trends in Biochemical Sciences. 14 (4): 137–40. doi:10.1016/0968-0004(89)90145-X. PMID 2499084.
  • Gajiwala KS, Burley SK (February 2000). "Winged helix proteins". Current Opinion in Structural Biology. 10 (1): 110–6. doi:10.1016/S0959-440X(99)00057-3. PMID 10679470.
  • Santos CL, Tavares F, Thioulouse J, Normand P (March 2009). "A phylogenomic analysis of bacterial helix-turn-helix transcription factors". FEMS Microbiology Reviews. 33 (2): 411–29. doi:10.1111/j.1574-6976.2008.00154.x. PMID 19076237.
  • Hoskisson PA, Rigali S (2009). "Chapter 1: Variation in form and function the helix-turn-helix regulators of the GntR superfamily". Advances in Applied Microbiology. 69: 1–22. doi:10.1016/S0065-2164(09)69001-8. PMID 19729089.
  • Brennan RG (September 1993). "The winged-helix DNA-binding motif: another helix-turn-helix takeoff". Cell. 74 (5): 773–6. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(93)90456-Z. PMID 8374950. S2CID 31355349.
  • Huffman JL, Brennan RG (February 2002). "Prokaryotic transcription regulators: more than just the helix-turn-helix motif". Current Opinion in Structural Biology. 12 (1): 98–106. doi:10.1016/s0959-440x(02)00295-6. PMID 11839496.

External links

  • Helix-turn-helix motif, lambda-like repressor, from EMBL
  • Full PDB entry for PDB ID 1LMB
  • Cro/C1-type HTH domain, more HTHs in PROSITE
Pfam infoboxes for Helix-turn-helix domains
Bacterial regulatory helix-turn-helix protein, lysR family
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_1
PfamPF00126
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR000847
PROSITEPDOC00043
SCOP21al3 / SCOPe / SUPFAM
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
HTH DNA binding domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_10
PfamPF04967
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR007050
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Ribonuclease R winged-helix domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_12
PfamPF08461
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR013668
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
HTH DNA binding domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_13
PfamPF11972
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR021068
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Helix-turn-helix
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_3
PfamPF01381
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR001387
PROSITEPDOC50943
SCOP21r69 / SCOPe / SUPFAM
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Bacterial regulatory protein, arsR family
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_5
PfamPF01022
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR001845
PROSITEPDOC00661
SCOP21smt / SCOPe / SUPFAM
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Helix-turn-helix domain, rpiR family
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_6
PfamPF01418
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR000281
PROSITEPDOC51071
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Helix-turn-helix domain of resolvase
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_7
PfamPF02796
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR006120
PROSITEPDOC00334
SCOP21hcr / SCOPe / SUPFAM
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Bacterial regulatory protein, Fis family
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_8
PfamPF02954
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR002197
SCOP21f36 / SCOPe / SUPFAM
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
RNA polymerase III subunit RPC82 helix-turn-helix domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_9
PfamPF08221
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR013197
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Bacterial regulatory helix-turn-helix proteins, AraC family
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_AraC
PfamPF00165
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR000005
PROSITEPDOC00040
SCOP21bl0 / SCOPe / SUPFAM
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
CodY helix-turn-helix domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_CodY
PfamPF08222
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR013198
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
DeoR-like helix-turn-helix domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_DeoR
PfamPF08220
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR001034
PROSITEPDOC00696
SCOP21lk5 / SCOPe / SUPFAM
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
IclR helix-turn-helix domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_IclR
PfamPF09339
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR005471
PROSITEPDOC00807
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
M protein trans-acting positive regulator (MGA) HTH domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_Mga
PfamPF08280
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR013199
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Helix-turn-helix domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_OrfB_IS605
PfamPF12323
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR021027
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
helix-turn-helix, Psq domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_psq
PfamPF05225
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR007889
PROSITEPDOC50960
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Transposase
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_Tnp_1
PfamPF01527
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR002514
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Transposase
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_Tnp_IS630
PfamPF01710
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR002622
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Mu DNA-binding domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_Tnp_Mu_1
PfamPF02316
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR003314
SCOP21qpm / SCOPe / SUPFAM
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Mu DNA binding, I gamma subdomain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_Tnp_Mu_2
PfamPF09039
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR015126
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Transposase
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_Tnp_Tc3_2
PfamPF01498
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR002492
SCOP21tc3 / SCOPe / SUPFAM
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Tc5 transposase DNA-binding domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_Tnp_Tc5
PfamPF03221
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR004906
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Sporulation Regulator WhiA C terminal domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_WhiA
PfamPF02650
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR003802
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Helix-turn-helix domain of alkylmercury lyase
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_15
PfamPF12324
Pfam clanCL0123
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Helix-turn-helix domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_16
PfamPF12645
Pfam clanCL0123
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Helix-turn-helix domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_17
PfamPF12728
Pfam clanCL0123
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Helix-turn-helix domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_18
PfamPF12833
Pfam clanCL0123
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Helix-turn-helix domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_19
PfamPF12844
Pfam clanCL0123
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Helix-turn-helix domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_20
PfamPF12840
Pfam clanCL0123
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
InsA C-terminal domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_Tnp_IS1
PfamPF12759
Pfam clanCL0123
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
putative Helix-turn-helix domain of transposase IS66
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_Tnp_IS66
PfamPF13005
Pfam clanCL0123
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
HTH domain
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_11
PfamPF08279
Pfam clanCL0123
InterProIPR013196
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
Tc3 transposase
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_Tnp_Tc3_1
PfamPF11427
Pfam clanCL0123
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary
IS21 transposase-type HTH
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_IS21
InterProIPR017894
PROSITEPS50531
IS408 transposase-type HTH
Identifiers
SymbolHTH_IS408
InterProIPR017895
PROSITEPS50532
  • v
  • t
  • e
Protein secondary structure
Protein secondary structure
Helices:
Extended:
Supersecondary:
  • v
  • t
  • e
(1) Basic domains
(1.1) Basic leucine zipper (bZIP)
(1.2) Basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH)
Group A
Group B
Group C
bHLH-PAS
Group D
Group E
Group F
bHLH-COE
(1.3) bHLH-ZIP
(1.4) NF-1
(1.5) RF-X
(1.6) Basic helix-span-helix (bHSH)
(2) Zinc finger DNA-binding domains
(2.1) Nuclear receptor (Cys4)
subfamily 1
subfamily 2
subfamily 3
subfamily 4
subfamily 5
subfamily 6
subfamily 0
(2.2) Other Cys4
(2.3) Cys2His2
(2.4) Cys6
(2.5) Alternating composition
(2.6) WRKY
(3) Helix-turn-helix domains
(3.1) Homeodomain
Antennapedia
ANTP class
protoHOX
Hox-like
metaHOX
NK-like
other
(3.2) Paired box
(3.3) Fork head / winged helix
(3.4) Heat shock factors
(3.5) Tryptophan clusters
(3.6) TEA domain
  • transcriptional enhancer factor
(4) β-Scaffold factors with minor groove contacts
(4.1) Rel homology region
(4.2) STAT
(4.3) p53-like
(4.4) MADS box
(4.6) TATA-binding proteins
(4.7) High-mobility group
(4.9) Grainyhead
(4.10) Cold-shock domain
(4.11) Runt
(0) Other transcription factors
(0.2) HMGI(Y)
(0.3) Pocket domain
(0.5) AP-2/EREBP-related factors
(0.6) Miscellaneous
see also transcription factor/coregulator deficiencies