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Background  Transcription factors, regulating the expression inventory of a cell, interact with its respective DNA subjugated by a specific recognition pattern, which if well exploited may ensure targeted genome engineering. The mostly widely studied transcription factors are zinc finger proteins that bind to its target DNA via direct and indirect recognition levels at the interaction interface. Exploiting the binding specificity and affinity of the interaction between the zinc fingers and the respective DNA can help in generating engineered zinc fingers for therapeutic applications. Experimental evidences lucidly substantiate the effect of indirect interaction like DNA deformation and desolvation kinetics, in empowering ZFPs to accomplish partial sequence specificity functioning around structural properties of DNA. Exploring the structure-function relationships of the existing zinc finger-DNA complexes at the indirect recognition level can aid in predicting the probable zinc fingers that could bind to any target DNA. Deformation energy, which defines the energy required to bend DNA from its native shape to its shape when bound to the ZFP, is an effect of indirect recognition mechanism. Water is treated as a co-reactant for unfurling the affinity studies in ZFP-DNA binding equilibria that takes into account the unavoidable change in hydration that occurs when these two solvated surfaces come into contact.    Results  Aspects like desolvation and DNA deformation have been theoretically investigated based on simulations and free energy perturbation data revealing a consensus in correlating affinity and specificity as well as stability for ZFP-DNA interactions. Greater loss of water at the interaction interface of the DNA calls for binding with higher affinity, eventually distorting the DNA to a greater extent accounted by the change in major groove width and DNA tilt, stretch and rise.    Conclusion  Most prediction algorithms for ZFPs do not account for water loss at the interface. The above findings may significantly affect these algorithms. Further the sequence dependent deformation in the DNA upon complexation with our prototype as well as preference of bases at the 2 nd  and 3 rd  position of the repeating triplet provide an absolutely new insight about the indirect interactions undergoing a change that have not been probed yet.

A theoretical investigation of DNA dynamics and desolvation kinetics for zinc finger proteinZif268