Structure and Function of Zinc Finger Proteins in Eucaryon

A number of proteins in eucaryon contain zinc finger domains and this class of proteins are called as zinc finger proteins. Because of this special finger-like structure,zinc finger proteins play an important role in the recognition and binding to DNA, protein and RNA. Many zinc finger proteins contain DNA-binding domains included in the zinc finger domains, and also effect domains such as KRAB, SCAN, BTB/POZ, SNAG, SANT and PLAG, linked to the zinc finger domains. These proteins function as transcriptional factors to regulate the target gene transcription. Some zinc finger proteins such as LIM-ZF, MYND-ZF, PHD-ZF and RING-ZF, function as the protein adaptors to mediate the protein-protein interaction. Additionally, some of zinc finger proteins can interact with RNAs and regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional levels. Here we review the interaction between zinc finger proteins and DNA, RNAs and other proteins, respectively.