zinc finger (metal-binding finger)
A motif of which seven or more may appear in a DNA-binding protein. Each is characterized by two closely spaced cysteine and two histidine residues that serve as ligands for a single Zn2+. When bound to Zn2+ they form a module from which protrude amino acid side chains that interact with the bases partially exposed to the DNA major groove. Since in the area of contact there is a limited and local parallel of DNA and protein sequences, the occurrence of the contacting amino acid residues in the protein sequence falls into a regularity, or register, that creates in the protein a syllabicity. Klug, A. and Schwabe, J.W.R. (1995) FASEB J. 9, 597-604; Berg, J.M. (1995) Acc. Chem. Res. 28, 14-19
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