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Zinc Finger Proteins

Meaning

Zinc Finger Proteins are a large, diverse class of proteins characterized by the presence of one or more small, distinct structural motifs where a zinc ion ($text{Zn}^{2+}$) is tetrahedrally coordinated to cysteine or histidine residues to stabilize a specific protein fold. This stabilized structure, which often resembles a finger-like projection, is crucial for mediating the protein’s interaction with other biological molecules. They are among the most common DNA-binding motifs in the human genome.