Disease relevance of Leucine Zippers

• The product of the EBV BZLF1 early gene, EB1, a member of the basic leucine-zipper family of transcription factors, interacts with both viral and cellular promoters and transcription factors, modulating the reactivation of latent EBV infection [1].
• Recently, a novel viral protein named HTLV-1 basic leucine-zipper factor, HBZ, has been shown to interact with c-Jun and repress c-Jun-mediated transcription by abrogating its DNA-binding activity [2].
• As the first step toward the synthesis of a basic region-retro leucine zipper HIV enhancer-binding fusion protein, we have now prepared the retro version of the leucine zipper (r-LZ35) and performed initial physicochemical characterization [3].

High impact information on Leucine Zippers

• Embedded within these leucine-zipper layers is an ionic layer consisting of an arginine and three glutamine residues contributed from each of the four alpha-helices [4].
• The basic/leucine zipper (bZip) transcription factor, CREB, binds to the CRE element (TGANNTCA) [5].
• We show that a 32-residue alpha-helical peptide based on the leucine-zipper domain of the yeast transcription factor GCN4 can act autocatalytically in templating its own synthesis by accelerating the thioester-promoted amide-bond condensation of 15- and 17-residue fragments in neutral, dilute aqueous solutions [6].
• The folding free energy of the leucine-zipper dimerization domain was harnessed to twist the dimer interface of the receptor, which markedly affected the extent of CheA activation [7].
• Here, it is shown that BRCA1 interacts with Jun proteins via a coiled-coil motif in AD1 and the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) region of the Jun proteins [8].

Biological context of Leucine Zippers

• Although Mad1 (a basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper [bHLH-Zip) protein) forms a heterodimer with the Max bHLH-Zip protein, LexA-Mad1 and VP16-Max do not activate transcription of a reporter gene in a two-hybrid assay [9].
• EmBP-1 is a wheat DNA binding protein of the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) class of transcription factors implicated in the mechanisms of abscisic acid mediated gene activation [10].
• The full-length cDNA sequence corresponding to this EST encodes a novel protein containing four ankyrin (ANK) repeats, a sterile-alpha motif (SAM), and a putative basic leucine zipper (bZIP) domain [11].
• Deletion of the leucine zipper motif of AFAP-110 (AFAP-110(Deltalzip)) has been shown to induce a phenotype which resembles Src-transformed cells, by repositioning actin filaments into rosettes [12].
• These vectors were used to investigate and visualize homodimerization of the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor bZIP63 and the zinc finger protein lesion simulating disease 1 (LSD1) from Arabidopsis as well as the dimer formation of the tobacco 14-3-3 protein T14-3c [13].

Anatomical context of Leucine Zippers

• Mitf, a basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper (b-HLH-LZ) transcription factor associated with the onset and maintenance of pigmentation, identifies the retinal pigmented epithelium during eye development [14].

Associations of Leucine Zippers with chemical compounds

• The sequence in the 22-kD zein gene promoter that is recognized by O2 is similar to the target site recognized by other "basic/leucine zipper" (bZIP) proteins in that it contains an ACGT core that is necessary for DNA binding [15].
• To define the basis for structural heterogeneity, we determined the high resolution X-ray crystal structures of a single GCN4 leucine-zipper mutant (Asn 16 to aminobutyric acid) in both dimeric and trimeric coiled-coil conformations [16].
• Auxin-induced stress potentiates trans-activation by a conserved plant basic/leucine-zipper factor [17].
• C1 spans the sequences missing in AMV v-myb while C2, which contains the leucine-zipper motif is specifically absent in the E26 v-myb in addition to C1 [18].
• The proteins encoded by the Gpa2 and the Rx1 genes share an overall homology of over 88% (amino-acid identity) and belong to the leucine-zipper, nucleotide-binding site, leucine-rich repeat (LZ-NBS-LRR)-containing class of plant resistance genes [19].

Gene context of Leucine Zippers

• Deletion analysis of the various functional domains of ATF6 indicated that the interaction was through its leucine-zipper domain [20].
• Cbf1 belongs to the basic helix-loop-helix DNA-binding protein family while Met4 and Met28 are two basic leucine zipper (bZIP) factors [21].
• The basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper (bHLHZIP) protein TFE3 and Smad3 synergistically activate transcription of the plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) as well as other genes [22].
• The crystal structure of the heterodimer formed by the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) domains of activating transcription factor-4 (ATF4) and CCAAT box/enhancer-binding protein beta (C/EBP beta), from two different bZIP transcription factor families, has been determined and refined to 2.6 A [23].
• Ire1p regulates synthesis of the basic leucine-zipper (bZIP)-containing transcription factor Hac1p by controlling splicing of HAC1 mRNA [24].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Leucine Zippers

• Individual glucocorticoid (GC) sensitivity was determined by measuring the effects of several clinically used GCs on transactivation of the GC-induced leucine zipper (GILZ) gene and on transrepression of the IL-2 gene using quantitative real-time PCR [25].

References