DNA-binding domain of estrogen receptor (ER) and estrogen related receptors (ERR) is composed of two C4-type zinc fingers
DNA-binding domains of estrogen receptor (ER) and estrogen related receptors (ERR) are composed of two C4-type zinc fingers. Each zinc finger contains a group of four Cys residues which co-ordinates a single zinc atom. ER and ERR interact with the palindromic inverted repeat, 5'GGTCAnnnTGACC-3', upstream of the target gene and modulate the rate of transcriptional initiation. ERR and ER are closely related and share sequence similarity, target genes, co-regulators and promoters. While ER is activated by endogenous estrogen, ERR lacks the ability to bind to estrogen. Estrogen receptor mediates the biological effects of hormone estrogen by the binding of the receptor dimer to estrogen response element of target genes. However, ERRs seem to interfere with the classic ER-mediated estrogen responsive signaling by targeting the same set of genes. ERRs and ERs exhibit the common modular structure with other nuclear receptors. They have a central highly conserved DNA binding domain (DBD), a non-conserved N-terminal domain, a flexible hinge and a C-terminal ligand binding domain (LBD).