Sandbox Z-DNA: Difference between revisions

ADAR1 belongs to the family of deaminases that modify double stranded mRNA by catalyzing the conversion of adenine to inosine which is translated to guanosine. This may result in the expression of an amino acid different from the one encoded by the gene at that site. ADAR1 is a complex protein with two Z-DNA binding motifs called <scene name='Sandbox_Z-DNA/Adar1zalpha/3'>Z-alpha</scene> and Z-beta. It also has three copies of double-stranded RNA binding motif (DRBM) and a catalytic domain related to ''E.coli''  cytidine deaminase. Z-alpha alone can not only bind to Z-DNA with high affinity but also interact with Z-beta to form a slightly different binding domain. Z-alpha belongs to winged-helix-turn-helix family. It consists of a helix-turn-helix motif containing alpha-2 and alpha-3 and a C- terminal beta-sheet which constrains the  the fold by contacting the residues on between alpha-2 and alpha-3. Alpha-3 and C-terminal beta sheet are involved in binding to Z-DNA. The double stranded RNA substrate for ADAR1 is formed by folding of 3' intron back onto the exon containing the site to be edited. This shows that the editing of RNA occurs before the splicing of RNA providing an explanation for the binding of Z-DNA by ADAR1. Z-DNA may localize the editing activity of ADAR1 to a particular region within a gene, thus preventing indiscriminate modification. This allows for editing of the nascent transcript and blocking further transcription of gene. It has also been suggested that the extent of adenosine to inosine is proportional to amount of Z-DNA and also the ease with which the surrounding sequences adopt Z-DNA conformation. According to a study binding of ADAR1 to Z-DNA resulted in the increase in promoter activity of the gene. Thus the result suggests that Z-DNA formation in the promoter region is itself involved in the regulation of transcription.