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We are deeply saddened by the passing of Amos Bairoch (1957–2025), the creator of PROSITE. We wish to dedicate our latest paper, published shortly before his death, to him. He will always be a source of inspiration to us.
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Amos Bairoch

PROSITE documentation PDOC00381
HSF-type DNA-binding domain signature


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PURL: https://purl.expasy.org/prosite/documentation/PDOC00381

Description

Heat shock factor (HSF) is a DNA-binding protein that specifically binds heat shock promoter elements (HSE). HSE is a palindromic element rich with repetitive purine and pyrimidine motifs: 5'-nGAAnnTTCnnGAAnnTTCn-3'. HSF is expressed at normal temperatures but is activated by heat shock or chemical stressors [1,2]. The sequences of HSF from various species show extensive similarity in a region of about 90 amino acids, which has been shown [3] to bind DNA.

Some other proteins also contain a HSF domain, these are:

  • Yeast SFL1, a protein involved in cell surface assembly and regulation of the gene related to flocculation (asexual cell aggregation) [4].
  • Yeast transcription factor SKN7 (or BRY1 or POS9), which binds to the promoter elements SCB and MCB essential for the controal of G1 cyclins expression [5].
  • Yeast MGA1.
  • Yeast hypothetical protein YJR147w.

We have derived a pattern from the most conserved part of the HSF DNA-binding domain, its central region.

Last update:

November 1997 / Pattern and text revised.

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Technical section

PROSITE method (with tools and information) covered by this documentation:

HSF_DOMAIN, PS00434; HSF-type DNA-binding domain signature  (PATTERN)


References

1AuthorsSorger P.K.
TitleHeat shock factor and the heat shock response.
SourceCell 65:363-366(1991).
PubMed ID2018972

2AuthorsMager W.H. Moradas Ferreira P.M.
TitleStress response of yeast.
SourceBiochem. J. 290:1-13(1993).
PubMed ID8439279

3AuthorsVuister G.W. Kim S.-J. Orosz A. Marquardt J. Wu C. Bax A.
TitleSolution structure of the DNA-binding domain of Drosophila heat shock transcription factor.
SourceNat. Struct. Biol. 1:605-614(1994).
PubMed ID7634100

4AuthorsFujita A. Kikuchi Y. Kuhara S. Misumi Y. Matsumoto S. Kobayashi H.
TitleDomains of the SFL1 protein of yeasts are homologous to Myc oncoproteins or yeast heat-shock transcription factor.
SourceGene 85:321-328(1989).
PubMed ID2697640

5AuthorsMorgan B.A. Bouquin N. Merrill G.F. Johnston L.H.
TitleA yeast transcription factor bypassing the requirement for SBF and DSC1/MBF in budding yeast has homology to bacterial signal transduction proteins.
SourceEMBO J. 14:5679-5689(1995).
PubMed ID8521825



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