| Abstract | Homeodomain proteins are transcription factors that share a related DNA binding homeodomain [ 10377888]. The homeodomain was first identified in a number of Drosophila homeotic and segmentation proteins, but is now known to be well conserved in many other animals, including vertebrates. The domain binds DNA through a helix-turn-helix (HTH) structure. The HTH motif is characterised by two alpha-helices, which make intimate contacts with the DNA and are joined by a short turn. The second helix binds to DNA via a number of hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions, which occur between specific side chains and the exposed bases and thymine methyl groups within the major groove of the DNA. The first helix helps to stabilise the structure. Many proteins contain homeodomains, including Drosophila Engrailed, yeast mating type proteins, hepatocyte nuclear factor 1a and HOX proteins.
The homeodomain motif is very similar in sequence and structure to domains in a wide range of DNA-binding proteins, including recombinases, Myb proteins, GARP response regulators, human telomeric proteins (hTRF1), paired domain proteins (PAX), yeast RAP1, centromere-binding proteins CENP-B and ABP-1, transcriptional regulators (TyrR), AraC-type transcriptional activators, and tetracycline repressor-like proteins (TetR, QacR, YcdC) [12215502, 9739097, 7707374].
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