Proteins find binding sites by hopping from one site to the next rather than by sliding.

Halford/EMBO

Arecent report defies the dogma for how sequence-specific DNA binding proteins find their final binding sites. The article, by Darren Gowers and Stephen Halford (University of Bristol, Bristol, UK), shows that proteins travel three-dimensional (3D), rather than one-dimensional (1D), routes to their resting sites.

In the old 1D, or sliding, model, proteins bind randomly to nonspecific DNA and then slide along as though on a track to their binding sites. By separating the nonspecific DNA and the binding site on interlinked rings of DNA called catenanes, the Bristol group now demonstrates that proteins can jump to their destinations.

In a catenane, a binding protein cannot interchange from one ring to the other without first dissociating from the DNA. However, restriction enzymes found their binding sites in the midst...

The Rockefeller University Press
2003
The Rockefeller University Press
2003
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