ribosomal protein S3. This domain is unusual in that it has a different fold compared to the normal KH domain.[4]
Nucleic acid binding
KH domains bind to either
single stranded DNA. The nucleic acid is bound in an extended conformation across one side of the domain. The binding occurs in a cleft formed between alpha helix 1, alpha helix 2 the GXXG loop (contains a highly conserved sequence motif) and the variable loop.[5] The binding cleft is hydrophobic in nature with a variety of additional protein specific interactions to stabilise the complex. Valverde and colleagues note that, "Nucleic acid base-to-protein aromatic side chain stacking interactions which are prevalent in other types of single stranded nucleic acid binding motifs, are notably absent in KH domain nucleic acid recognition".[5]
Structural groups
The two types of KH domain.
Structurally there are two different types of KH domains identified by Grishin which are called type I and type II.[4] The type I domains are mainly found in eukaryotic proteins, while the type II domains are predominantly found in prokaryotes. While both types share a minimal consensus sequence motif they have different structural folds. The type I KH domains have a three stranded beta-sheet where all three strands are anti-parallel. In the type II domain two of the three beta strands are in a parallel orientation. While type I domains are usually found in multiple copies within proteins, the type II are typically found in a single copy per protein.[5]
