Leucine Zipper

A leucine zipper, (leucine scissors), is a super secondary structural motif found in proteins that creates adhesion forces in parallel alpha helices. It is a common dimerization domain found in some proteins involved in regulating gene expression.

Structure

The main feature of the leucine zipper domain is the predominance of the common amino acid leucine at the d position of the heptad repeat. Leucine zippers were first identified by sequence alignment of certain transcription factors which identified a common pattern of leucines every seven amino acids. These leucines were later shown to form the hydrophobic core of a coiled coil.

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FOS and AP1 Bound to DNA

Each half of a leucine zipper consists of a short alpha-helix with a leucine residue at every seventh position. The standard 3.6 residues per turn alpha-helix structure changes slightly to become a 3.5 residues per turn alpha-helix. Known also as the heptat repeat, one leucine comes in direct contact with another leucine on the other strand every second turn.

The bZip family of transcription factors consist of a basic region which interacts with the major groove of a DNA molecule through hydrogen bonding, and a hydrophobic leucine zipper region which is responsible for dimerization.

Leucine zipper regulatory proteins include c-fos and c-jun (the AP1 transcription factor), important regulators of normal development. If they are overproduced or mutated in a vital area, they may generate cancer. These proteins interact with the DNA as dimers (homo- or hetero-) and are also called basic zipper proteins (bZips).