Functional characterization of zinc finger proteins

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Zinc finger proteins are involved in such diverse biological processes as replication, transcriptional regulation, RNA processing, and translational control. Together, these processes represent the main mechanisms for controlling the expression of genes within cells. In carrying out these functions, zinc fingers interact with DNA, RNA and proteins. We are interested in understanding how interactions with such structurally diverse molecules can be accommodated within the zinc finger motif. We use a variety of experimental approaches to carry out our research on zinc finger proteins. Site-directed mutagenesis is used to identify amino acids on the proteins, and nucleotides on the nucleic acids, that are involved in forming specific molecular complexes. We also use directed evolution of nucleic acids to identify and characterize novel aspects of the nucleic acid binding properties of zinc finger proteins. We are beginning to use x-ray crystallography to obtain detailed pictures of these molecular complexes with atomic resolution. The results of our research advance our knowledge and understanding of the function of this important class of cellular proteins.