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. 1993 Jul 1;90(13):6360-4.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.13.6360.

Functional specificity of the Antennapedia homeodomain

K Furukubo-Tokunaga  1 , S Flister, W J Gehring
Affiliations

Functional specificity of the Antennapedia homeodomain

K Furukubo-Tokunaga et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

The segmental identity in animal development is determined by a set of homeotic selector genes clustered in the invertebrate HOM or vertebrate Hox homeo box complexes. These genes encode proteins with very similar homeodomains and highly diverged N- and C-terminal sequences. The Antennapedia (Antp) homeodomain, for instance, differs at only five amino acid positions from that of Sex combs reduced (Scr) protein. Using a heat shock assay in which chimeric Antp-Scr proteins are expressed ectopically in Drosophila, we have shown that the functional specificity of the Antp protein is determined by the four specific amino acids located in the flexible N-terminal arm of the homeodomain. The three-dimensional structure of the Antp homeodomain-DNA complex shows that this N-terminal arm is located in the minor groove of the DNA, suggesting that the functional specificity is determined either by slight differences in DNA binding and/or by selective interactions with other transcription factor(s).

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