Model of zinc fingers in the ZFP568:DNA complex

This model displayes unique properties of the zinc fingers in ZFP568. In mice ZFP568 binds to a 24 base pair sequence upstream of insulin growth factors 2 gene, using an 11 zinc finger array and represses the transcription. Tandem zinc fingers are extremly important in transciption regulation of DNA as they help bind transcription regulators in mammals. The tranditional way zinc fingers bind to DNA is by recognising three bases each, so one finger binds to three bases. However the conformation of the ZFP568:DNA complex is different to usual zinc finger and DNA complexes, recognising two or four bases instead of three due to a shorter minor groove brought on by a adenine and thymine rich DNA sequence. This difference in zinc finger binding highlights that zinc finger arrays are able to adapt to changes in sequences to still preform their function, which is a very unique and important property.