Stable, Monomeric Variants of λ Cro Obtained by Insertion of a Designed β-Hairpin Sequence
Abstract
λ Cro is a dimeric DNA binding protein. Random mutagenesis and a selection for Cro activity have been used to identify the contacts between Cro subunits that are crucial for maintenance of a stably folded structure. To obtain equivalent contacts in a monomeric system, a Cro variant was designed and constructed in which the antiparallel β-ribbon that forms the dimer interface was replaced by a β-hairpin. The engineered monomer has a folded structure similar to wild type, is significantly more stable than wild type, and exhibits novel half-operator binding activity.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- December 1990
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.2148648
- Bibcode:
- 1990Sci...250.1712M