{"doi":"10.1002/cbic.200500049","title":"Altered Specificity in DNA Binding by the lac Repressor: A Mutant lac Headpiece that Mimics the gal Repressor","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Recognition of the lac operator by the lac repressor involves specific interactions between residues in the repressor's recognition helix and bases in the DNA major groove. Tyr17 and Gln18, at positions 1 and 2 in the lac repressor recognition helix, can be exchanged for other amino acids to generate mutant repressors that display altered specificity. We have solved the solution structure of a protein–DNA complex of an altered‐specificity mutant lac headpiece in which Tyr17 and Gln18 were exchanged for valine and alanine, respectively, as found in the recognition helix of the gal repressor. As previously described by Lehming et al. (</jats:italic>EMBO J. <jats:italic><jats:bold>1987</jats:bold>,</jats:italic> 6<jats:italic>, 3145–3153), this altered‐specificity mutant of the lac repressor recognizes a variant lac operator that is similar to the gal operator Oe. The mutant lac headpiece showed the predicted specificity and is also able to mimic the gal repressor by recognizing and bending the natural gal operator Oe. These structural data show that, while most of the anchoring points that help the lac headpiece to assemble on the lac operator were preserved, a different network of protein–DNA interactions connecting Ala17 and Val18 to bases in the DNA major groove drives the specificity towards the altered operator.</jats:italic></jats:p>","journal":"ChemBioChem","year":2005,"id":588562,"datarank":1.090672717015848,"base_score":2.772588722239781,"endowment":2.772588722239781,"self_citation_contribution":0.41588830833596724,"citation_network_contribution":0.6747844086798807,"self_endowment_contribution":0.41588830833596724,"citer_contribution":0.6747844086798807,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":15,"citer_count":12,"citers_with_citation_signal":12,"citers_with_endowment":12,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":750825,"name":"Gert E. Folkers","orcid":"0000-0003-1070-0505","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":340173,"name":"Alexandre M. J. J. Bonvin","orcid":"0000-0001-7369-1322","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1505725,"name":"Devashish Das","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1505726,"name":"Rolf Boelens","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1505727,"name":"Robert Kaptein","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1505724,"name":"Roberto Kopke Salinas","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Altered Specificity in DNA Binding by the lac Repressor: A Mutant lac Headpiece that Mimics the gal Repressor","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Recognition of the lac operator by the lac repressor involves specific interactions between residues in the repressor's recognition helix and bases in the DNA major groove. Tyr17 and Gln18, at positions 1 and 2 in the lac repressor recognition helix, can be exchanged for other amino acids to generate mutant repressors that display altered specificity. We have solved the solution structure of a protein–DNA complex of an altered‐specificity mutant lac headpiece in which Tyr17 and Gln18 were exchanged for valine and alanine, respectively, as found in the recognition helix of the gal repressor. As previously described by Lehming et al. (</jats:italic>EMBO J. <jats:italic><jats:bold>1987</jats:bold>,</jats:italic> 6<jats:italic>, 3145–3153), this altered‐specificity mutant of the lac repressor recognizes a variant lac operator that is similar to the gal operator Oe. The mutant lac headpiece showed the predicted specificity and is also able to mimic the gal repressor by recognizing and bending the natural gal operator Oe. These structural data show that, while most of the anchoring points that help the lac headpiece to assemble on the lac operator were preserved, a different network of protein–DNA interactions connecting Ala17 and Val18 to bases in the DNA major groove drives the specificity towards the altered operator.</jats:italic></jats:p>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":2.772588722239781,"endowment":2.772588722239781,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"16094693","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W2070362624","authors":[],"funders":[],"total_grants":0,"fwci":0.6279,"citation_percentile":0.66397547,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2012,"count":2},{"year":2021,"count":1},{"year":2022,"count":1},{"year":2024,"count":1}],"oa_status":"green","license":"other-oa","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/385159","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/385159/Salinas_et_al_2005_ChemBioChem.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y","host_type":"GREEN"},{"url":"https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/385159","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fcbic.200500049","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/cbic.200500049","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.200500049","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16094693","host_type":"repository"}],"fields_of_study":["Glycosylation and Glycoproteins Research","Carbohydrate Chemistry and Synthesis","RNA Interference and Gene Delivery","Biology","Medicine","Chemistry","Amino Acid Sequence","Base Sequence","Crystallography, X-Ray","DNA","Escherichia coli Proteins","Models, Molecular","Molecular Sequence Data","Mutation","Protein Structure, Tertiary","Repressor Proteins","Sequence Alignment","Substrate Specificity","Valine"],"mesh_terms":["Amino Acid Sequence","Base Sequence","DNA","Models, Molecular","Molecular Sequence Data","Mutation","Repressor Proteins","Substrate Specificity","Valine","Sequence Alignment","Protein Structure, Tertiary","Crystallography, X-Ray","Escherichia coli Proteins"],"keywords":["Lac repressor","Repressor","lac operon","Mutant","Operator (biology)","DNA","Biology","Biochemistry","Molecular biology","Gene","Gene expression"],"sdg_mappings":[],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-21T19:02:16.096504Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}