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Basic leucine zipper (bZIP) domain of Fungal Zip1-like transcription factors: a DNA-binding and dimerization domain This subfamily is composed of fungal bZIP transcription factors including Schizosaccharomyces pombe Zip1, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Methionine-requiring protein 28 (Met28p), and Neurospora crassa cys-3, among others. Zip1 is required for the production of key proteins involved in sulfur metabolism and also plays a role in cadmium response. Met28p acts as a cofactor of Met4p, a transcriptional activator of the sulfur metabolic network; it stabilizes DNA:Met4 complexes. bZIP factors act in networks of homo and heterodimers in the regulation of a diverse set of cellular processes. The bZIP structural motif contains a basic region and a leucine zipper, composed of alpha helices with leucine residues 7 amino acids apart, which stabilize dimerization with a parallel leucine zipper domain. Dimerization of leucine zippers creates a pair of the adjacent basic regions that bind DNA and undergo conformational change. Dimerization occurs in a specific and predictable manner resulting in hundreds of dimers having unique effects on transcription.
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