Shown here is the leucine zipper domain of the yeast transcriptional activator GCN4. Leucine zippers are peptide segments consisting of consecutive seven-residue repeat segments, in which the first and fourth residues are hydrophobic, with the fourth residue usually being leucine. Pairs of these peptides fold as short coiled coils. GCN4, a typical leucine zipper protein, forms a 2-stranded, parallel coiled coil in which the alpha helices wrap around each other in a left handed super coil. The dimer of this protein is a twisted elliptical cylinder. At the dimer interface, leucine residues make side to side interactions. Each leucine is surrounded by 4 of the neighboring helix residues. These residues greatly contribute to the stability of the dimer. The leucine zipper can be viewed as a twisted ladder. The sides of the ladder symbolize the helix backbone and the rungs of the ladder represent the leucine side chains. For more information, consult: O'Shea, Erin, et al. (1991) Science 254: 539-544. You may wish to manipulate this image yourself: Click and hold the left mouse button to rotate the image about the x and y axes. Rotate about the z axis by pressing the shift key and right mouse button together. The image may be translated along the x and y axes by pressing control and the right mouse button. By pressing shift and the left mouse button together, you may zoom the image in or out. Clicking the right mouse button on the image gives a menu which offers several choices, including spinning the image and changing the appearance and color of the molecule.
Leucine zippers are peptide segments consisting of consecutive seven-residue repeat segments, in which the first and fourth residues are hydrophobic, with the fourth residue usually being leucine. Pairs of these peptides fold as short coiled coils. GCN4, a typical leucine zipper protein, forms a 2-stranded, parallel coiled coil in which the alpha helices wrap around each other in a left handed super coil. The dimer of this protein is a twisted elliptical cylinder. At the dimer interface, leucine residues make side to side interactions. Each leucine is surrounded by 4 of the neighboring helix residues. These residues greatly contribute to the stability of the dimer. The leucine zipper can be viewed as a twisted ladder. The sides of the ladder symbolize the helix backbone and the rungs of the ladder represent the leucine side chains. For more information, consult: O'Shea, Erin, et al. (1991) Science 254: 539-544. You may wish to manipulate this image yourself: Click and hold the left mouse button to rotate the image about the x and y axes. Rotate about the z axis by pressing the shift key and right mouse button together. The image may be translated along the x and y axes by pressing control and the right mouse button. By pressing shift and the left mouse button together, you may zoom the image in or out. Clicking the right mouse button on the image gives a menu which offers several choices, including spinning the image and changing the appearance and color of the molecule.
The dimer of this protein is a twisted elliptical cylinder. At the dimer interface, leucine residues make side to side interactions. Each leucine is surrounded by 4 of the neighboring helix residues. These residues greatly contribute to the stability of the dimer. The leucine zipper can be viewed as a twisted ladder. The sides of the ladder symbolize the helix backbone and the rungs of the ladder represent the leucine side chains. For more information, consult: O'Shea, Erin, et al. (1991) Science 254: 539-544. You may wish to manipulate this image yourself: Click and hold the left mouse button to rotate the image about the x and y axes. Rotate about the z axis by pressing the shift key and right mouse button together. The image may be translated along the x and y axes by pressing control and the right mouse button. By pressing shift and the left mouse button together, you may zoom the image in or out. Clicking the right mouse button on the image gives a menu which offers several choices, including spinning the image and changing the appearance and color of the molecule.
At the dimer interface, leucine residues make side to side interactions. Each leucine is surrounded by 4 of the neighboring helix residues. These residues greatly contribute to the stability of the dimer. The leucine zipper can be viewed as a twisted ladder. The sides of the ladder symbolize the helix backbone and the rungs of the ladder represent the leucine side chains. For more information, consult: O'Shea, Erin, et al. (1991) Science 254: 539-544. You may wish to manipulate this image yourself: Click and hold the left mouse button to rotate the image about the x and y axes. Rotate about the z axis by pressing the shift key and right mouse button together. The image may be translated along the x and y axes by pressing control and the right mouse button. By pressing shift and the left mouse button together, you may zoom the image in or out. Clicking the right mouse button on the image gives a menu which offers several choices, including spinning the image and changing the appearance and color of the molecule.
Each leucine is surrounded by 4 of the neighboring helix residues. These residues greatly contribute to the stability of the dimer. The leucine zipper can be viewed as a twisted ladder. The sides of the ladder symbolize the helix backbone and the rungs of the ladder represent the leucine side chains. For more information, consult: O'Shea, Erin, et al. (1991) Science 254: 539-544. You may wish to manipulate this image yourself: Click and hold the left mouse button to rotate the image about the x and y axes. Rotate about the z axis by pressing the shift key and right mouse button together. The image may be translated along the x and y axes by pressing control and the right mouse button. By pressing shift and the left mouse button together, you may zoom the image in or out. Clicking the right mouse button on the image gives a menu which offers several choices, including spinning the image and changing the appearance and color of the molecule.
The leucine zipper can be viewed as a twisted ladder. The sides of the ladder symbolize the helix backbone and the rungs of the ladder represent the leucine side chains. For more information, consult: O'Shea, Erin, et al. (1991) Science 254: 539-544. You may wish to manipulate this image yourself: Click and hold the left mouse button to rotate the image about the x and y axes. Rotate about the z axis by pressing the shift key and right mouse button together. The image may be translated along the x and y axes by pressing control and the right mouse button. By pressing shift and the left mouse button together, you may zoom the image in or out. Clicking the right mouse button on the image gives a menu which offers several choices, including spinning the image and changing the appearance and color of the molecule.
For more information, consult: O'Shea, Erin, et al. (1991) Science 254: 539-544.
You may wish to manipulate this image yourself: