Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.50, No.13, 6323-6329, 2011
Templated Construction of a Zn-Selective Protein Dimerization Motif
Here, we report that the approach of metal-templated ligand synthesis can be applied to construct a dimeric protein assembly ((BMOE)RIDC1(2)), which is stabilized by non-covalent interactions and flexible covalent cross-linkers around the Zn templates. Despite its flexibility, (BMOE)RIDC1(2) selectively binds Zn-II over other divalent metals and undergoes dimerization upon metal binding. Such simultaneous fulfillment of plasticity and selectivity is a hallmark of cellular signaling events that involve ligand/metal-induced protein dimerization.