Solution Structure of Homeobox Transcription Factor Hex C-terminal Domain of Negatively Charged Activating Function

Transcription factor Hex (haematopoietically expressed homeobox) is a homeobox protein that regulates differentiation and development of liver and monocyte. Hex consists of three functional domains. N-terminal proline rich domain, homeodomain and acidic C terminal domain. Other than DNA binding, the function of Hex is to repress and activate transcription of target genes using multiple mechanism. However, the structure and function of Hex-C terminal domain is not yet elucidated. Hence, the present structural studies were carried out by NMR spectroscopy in order to understand the function of the Hex-C domain. We deteremined the NMR assignment of backbone and side chains, and obtained 3D structure of Hex-C domain in the presence of GST tag. This is the first paper to present the structure of a protein with GST tag by NMR.