Moleküler Biyoloji ve Genetik Seminerleri: Prof. Dr. Batu Erman
Moleküler Biyoloji ve Genetik Bölümümüzün başlattığı seminer serisinin ilk konuğu, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Moleküler Biyoloji ve Genetik Bölümü’nden Prof. Dr. Batu Erman.
Prof. Erman’ın “Sibling rivalry among the ZBTB transcription factor family: homo vs. heterodimers” başlıklı konuşmasını 21 Şubat Pazartesi saat 13:00’ten itibaren Zoom üzerinden takip edebilirsiniz.
Özet: The BTB domain is an oligomerization domain found in over 200 proteins encoded in the human genome. In the family of BTB domain and Zinc Finger-containing (ZBTB) transcription factors, 49 members share the same protein architecture. The N-terminal BTB domain is structurally conserved among the family members and serves as the dimerization site while the C-terminal zinc finger motifs mediate DNA binding. The available BTB domain structures from this family reveal a natural inclination for homodimerization. In this study we investigated the potential for heterodimer formation in the cellular environment. We selected five BTB homodimers and four heterodimer structures. We performed in vitro binding assays with fluorescent protein-BTB domain fusions to assess dimer formation. We tested the binding of several BTB pairs, and we were able to confirm the heterodimeric physical interaction between the BTB domains of PATZ1 and PATZ2, previously reported only in an interactome mapping experiment. We also found this pair to be co-expressed in several immune system cell types. Finally, we used the available structures of BTB domain dimers and newly constructed models in extended molecular dynamics simulations (500 ns) to understand the energetic determinants of homo and heterodimer formation. We conclude that heterodimer formation, although frequently described as less preferred than homodimers, is a possible mechanism to increase the combinatorial specificity of this transcription factor family.
Konuşmacı Hakkında: Batu Erman graduated from Robert College, Istanbul in 1987, received a BA in Molecular Biology from Hamilton College, NY in 1991, a PhD in Biology from Brandeis University, MA in 1998. He was a post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Alfred Singer’s laboratory at the Experimental Immunology Branch of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health from 1998 to 2004. He joined the faculty of Sabanci University in 2004 and since 2015 is a Professor of Molecular Biology, Genetics and Bioengineering. In 2020 he moved his lab to Bogazici University and serves as a Professor in the Molecular Biology and Genetics Department.